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Stephen Hopkins (settler)
Encyclopedia
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
who was one of the passengers on the Mayflower
Mayflower
The Mayflower was the ship that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, , in 1620...
in 1620, settling in Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town...
. Hopkins was recruited by the Merchant Adventurers to provide governance for the colony as well as assist with the colony's ventures. He was a member of a group of passengers known to the Pilgrims as "The Strangers" since they were not part of the Pilgrims' religious congregation. Hopkins was one of forty-one signatories of the Mayflower Compact
Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the colonists, later together known to history as the Pilgrims, who crossed the Atlantic aboard the Mayflower...
and was an assistant to the governor of the colony through 1636.
Sea Venture shipwreck and Mutiny
There is some evidence that the Stephen Hopkins who arrived on the Mayflower was the man of that name who had arrived in Virginia in 1609 aboard the new flagship of the Virginia CompanyVirginia Company
The Virginia Company refers collectively to a pair of English joint stock companies chartered by James I on 10 April1606 with the purposes of establishing settlements on the coast of North America...
, the Sea Venture
Sea Venture
The Sea Venture was a 17th-century English sailing ship, the wrecking of which in Bermuda is widely thought to have been the inspiration for Shakespeare's The Tempest...
, on which Sir George Somers
George Somers
This article is about the English naval hero. For the American football player, see George Somers Admiral Sir George Somers was an English naval hero. Born in Lyme Regis, Dorset, the son of John Somers, his first fame came as part of an expedition led by Sir Amyas Preston against the Spanish...
took the helm. That Stephen Hopkins had embarked as a Minister's Clerk on the "Sea Venture", the Admiral of the Fleet. The ship was on the way to the Jamestown Colony
Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607 , it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke...
in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
with much needed supplies when it was deliberately driven onto the reefs of Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
to prevent its foundering as a result of the damage it had sustained during a severe storm. All aboard, 150 passengers and crew and a dog, survived. The ship's longboat
Longboat
In the days of sailing ships, a vessel would carry several ship's boats for various uses. One would be a longboat, an open boat to be rowed by eight or ten oarsmen, two per thwart...
was fitted with a mast and sent to Virginia for help, but it and its crew were never seen again. Hopkins attempted to start a mutiny while stranded on the island. He was sentenced to death when this was discovered but was eventually set free after complaining of the "ruin of his wife and children". Hopkins and the remaining survivors spent nine months on Bermuda building two smaller ships, the Deliverance and Patience, from Bermuda cedar and materials salvaged from the Sea Venture. He and the other castaways eventually made their way to Jamestown, where Hopkins appears to have stayed for (some say) two years before returning to England. The Hopkins family is considered one of the First Families of Virginia
First Families of Virginia
First Families of Virginia were those families in Colonial Virginia who were socially prominent and wealthy, but not necessarily the earliest settlers. They originated with colonists from England who primarily settled at Jamestown, Williamsburg, and along the James River and other navigable waters...
. The story of the Sea Venture shipwreck (and Hopkins' mutiny) is said to be the inspiration for The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
by William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
.
Marriage
1. Mary: (Some old, undocumented sources have claimed Stephen Hopkins, father to Constance and Giles, married Constance Dudley but there is no record to support that claim. The records supporting his being married to Mary do exist- see references.) Mary died in 1613 in Hursley, England while Hopkins was away, perhaps in Virginia.2. Elizabeth Fisher: married Hopkins at St. Mary Matfellon, Whitechapel, London, on 19 February 1617/8, and was a Mayflower passenger who died in Plymouth, 1639.
Children
Stephen and Mary had three children:- Elizabeth Hopkins, b. abt. 13 Mar 1605, Hursley, Hampshire, England; she more than likely died before the Mayflower voyage.
- Constance HopkinsConstance HopkinsConstance Hopkins , also sometimes listed as Constanta. She was probably born in Hursley, Hampshire, England. Constance was the second daughter of Stephen Hopkins, by his first wife, Mary. Some believe she was named in honor of Constance Hopkins...
, b. abt. 11 May 1606, Hursley, Hampshire, England; Mayflower passenger; married Nicholas Snow, who came to Plymouth on the ship Anne in 1623; died in Plymouth ColonyPlymouth ColonyPlymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town...
, 1677. - Giles Hopkins, b. abt. 30 Jan 1608, Hursley, Hampshire, England Mayflower passenger, married Catherine Whelden, daughter of Gabriel Whelden of MaldenMalden, MassachusettsMalden is a suburban city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 59,450 at the 2010 census. In 2009 Malden was ranked as the "Best Place to Raise Your Kids" in Massachusetts by Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine.-History:...
and YarmouthYarmouth, MassachusettsYarmouth is a New England town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, Barnstable County being coextensive with Cape Cod. The population was 24,807 at the 2000 census....
Stephen and Elizabeth had seven children:
- Damaris Hopkins, b.abt. 1618; London, England; Mayflower passenger. Died before 1627 Division of Land.
- Oceanus HopkinsOceanus HopkinsOceanus Hopkins was the only child born on the Mayflower during its historic voyage which brought the Pilgrims to America. He was born to Stephen Hopkins and his wife, Elizabeth , sometime between the boarding and arrival dates of September 6 and November 9, 1620. He did not survive long, and was...
, b. fall 1620, en route to Plymouth onboard the Mayflower. Died before 1627 Division of Land. - Caleb Hopkins, b. abt. 1623, Plymouth; dead by spring 1651.
- Deborah Hopkins, b. abt. 1625, Plymouth, married Andrew Ring, son of William and Mary Ring
- Damaris Hopkins, b. abt. 1627, Plymouth, married Jacob Cooke, son of Pilgrim, Francis CookeFrancis CookeFrancis Cooke was one of the 102 passengers on the Mayflower. This early settler is one of the twenty-six male Pilgrims known to have descendants.- Early life and family :...
and Hester Mayhieu (Cooke) - Ruth Hopkins, b. abt. 1629, Plymouth
- Elizabeth Hopkins, b. abt. 1631, Plymouth.