Our Kinship with Governor William Bradford of Plymouth Colony

Our Kinship with Governor William Bradford of Plymouth Colony

By Jared L. Olar

January 2011

My mother's ancestors include Edward Southworth, the Pilgrim of Leiden, Holland, whose widow Alice married William Bradford, Governor of Plymouth Colony, died 1657, one of the Signers of the Mayflower Compact.

Edward Southworth may have been the Edward Southworth who was born 1590 in London, son of Thomas Southworth of Samlesbury and Rosamond Lister; or he could have been the Edward Southworth, born 1585 in Nottinghamshire, son of Richard Southworth of Clarborough. The Southworths of Samlesbury, Lancashire, and the Southworths of Clarborough and Wellam, Nottinghamshire, bore similar coat armor and were very probably cousins in the male line, and it is probably significant that Sir John Southworth of Samlesbury, who died in 1415 at the Siege of Harfleur, France, held lands in Nottinghamshire. A letter of Robert Cushman to Edward Southworth, dated 17 Aug. 1620, places Edward at Heneage House, Dukes Place, Aldgate, London. Thomas Southworth of Samlesbury lived in London from 1584 to 1594, and his friend Sir Francis Walsingham lived opposite Heneage House. In addition, a brother of Rosamond Lister was living in Aldgate at the same time that Edward and other Pilgrims were at Heneage House. If Thomas Southworth's son Edward is the Pilgrim of Leiden, it is probable that he was born at Heneage House. However, the Southworths of Clarborough and Wellam were neighbors of several Pilgrim families in Nottinghamshire, so it could very well be that Edward Southworth had joined the Separatists in Nottinghamshire.

Edward and his older brother Thomas were among the Pilgrims who left England and settled at Leiden, Holland. There, on 28 May 1613, Edward married Alice Carpenter, baptised 3 Aug. 1590 at Wrington, Somersetshire, England, died 26 March 1670 in Plymouth, Massachusetts, daughter of Alexander Carpenter. Edward and Alice had two children, sons named Constant and Thomas, both born in Leiden. Edward never came to America, dying in Leiden in 1621. His widow Alice, however, emigrated to Plymouth Colony in 1623. She married Gov. William Bradford in Plymouth on 14 Aug. 1623. Bradford was himself a widower with a surviving child by his late wife Dorothy May. He and Alice had two sons and a daughter. Alice's two sons by Edward were brought up in the home of Gov. Bradford.

The following chart shows that I am 11th in descent from Ensign Constant Southworth (1614-1678), stepson of Gov. William Bradford.

                                             1               2
                            Edward Southworth=Alice Carpenter=GOV. WILLIAM BRADFORD
                               (1590-1621)   |  (1590-1670)      (1589/90-1657)
                                             |
                                 Ensign Constant Southworth
                                             |
                                    Nathaniel Southworth=Desire Gray
                                                        |
                                            Capt. Ichabod Southworth
                                                        |
                                             Priscilla Southworth=Deacon Nathaniel Macomber
                                                                 |
                                                        Rev. Job Macomber
                                                                 |
                                          Charles Stinson=Lydia Macomber
                                                         |
                                                 Abigail Stinson=George Russell Linn
                                                                |
                                      James Monroe Shaw=Mary Rebecca Linn
                                                       |
                                              Sherman Linn Shaw
                                                       |
                                             Sherman Linn Shaw II
                                                       |
                                 Joseph Olar=Dolores Frances Shaw
                                            |
                                     Jared Linn Olar

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