Local connections with the New World abound

  • Published
  • By Maggie Cotner
  • former community relations advisor
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Four hundred years ago in 1585, a series of remarkable voyages from Britain began, in an attempt to establish the first known colony in North America. All efforts were unsuccessful, until at last, in 1607, a small fleet of three ships left Blackwall in the Thames. They were the Discovery, Godspeed and Susan Constant, and together, they carried 104 passengers.

The voyage had been proposed by a Suffolk man, Batholomew Gosnold. He had already sailed to the New World and back four years previously, and chose this time to captain the Godspeed. To judge by her design, this ship was the most seaworthy, but very cramped; space on board would have been less than 6-by-3 feet per person. The ships had no engines and had to sail with the trade winds, resulting in a voyage of almost six thousand miles.

Unfortunately, because the settlers needed to sow their first crops in the spring of 1607, they had to leave here in the freezing weather that preceded Christmas. Rough seas and unfavorable winds kept all three ships within sight of England's shores for six weeks, and bitter gales tossed the little fleet mercilessly during a further two months at sea, during which crew and passengers were soaked constantly by freezing seas which penetrated the deck planking and topsides.

At long last, however, the exhausted crews docked safely in the New World. Although half the settlers were to die of disease or starvation within months of their arrival, the rest survived and established a colony which was to become Jamestown, Va.

So although the American nation began with the Pilgrim Fathers -- a group of devout refugees fleeing religious and political persecution in 1620 -- they were actually pre-empted by a group of farmers and tradesmen from Norfolk and Suffolk, looking for adventure and opportunities in the New World that were lacking at home.

Batholomew Gosnold, captain of the Godspeed, came from stunning Otley Hall in Suffolk; it still stands, in all its mature beauty, only an hour's drive away just off the B1079 on the eastern side of the county. It was Gosnold who named Cape Cod, and called Martha's Vinyard after his infant daughter who had died at Otley Hall just before his departure.

Other local connections with the early New World abound in this part of England:

-- The very first counties to be established in Virginia were Norfolk and Suffolk, which later came to be called the Old Dominion

-- The town of Ipswich donated 100 pounds in 1606 to help pay the cost of the Gosnold's voyage.

-- Captain John Smith lived at King's Lynn, Norfolk, until 1606, when he sailed with Gosnold to found the colony at Jamestown. He was captured by Indians, but was saved by Pocahontas, the beautiful daughter of Chief Pohotan, who pleaded for his life as she did for many another captive.

-- John Rolfe, born in Heacham, Norfolk, was the first successful tobacco planter in Virginia. He married Pocahontas, and their son, Thomas Rolfe, sailed from Jamestown for England, living for some years in East Anglia before finally returning to settle permanently in Virginia. Pocahontas died in England of pneumonia, hastened, one suspects, by homesickness and heartache.

-- Henry Spelman, son of the High Sheriff of Norfolk, was only 7 years old when he was taken to Virginia in 1608. He was captured almost immediately by a tribe of Indians and lived with them, learning to speak their language. He was later recognized by John Smith because of his flaming red hair, and `rescued'. In 1624, he was tragically killed by the same tribe during a raid on Jamestown.

-- John Winthrop of Groton, Suffolk, become the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Coloney, after heading the fleet that took a thousand colonists there in 1629.

-- Thomas Paine, born and brought up in Thetford, Norfolk, later sailed to New England, and was the first person to demand, publicly, the independence of the colonies from England. In 1774, he wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence.

-- Thomas Dawes set the signal lanterns in the tower of the Old North Church in Boston, Massachusetts, for Paul Revere. He was descended from the Dawes family of Sudbury, Suffolk.

-- John Ward, the first minister of Haverhill, Massachusetts, had been rector of Haverhill, Suffolk.

Otley Hall is still a private home, and has new owners. Admission prices, which include parking, are £4.50 for adults and £2.50 for children, whilst tea, coffee and cake can be purchased for very little extra cost. If you wish to take a picnic instead, please eat it away from the grounds and car park of Otley Hall. For more information, call Otley Hall's Administrator, Frances, at (01473) 890264.