page_title: William Brewster
section_title: The Mayflower voyage and the New World
hierarchical_section_title: William Brewster / The Mayflower voyage and the New World
caption_attribution_description: English: Description: The Book of the General Laws of the Inhabitants of the Jurisdiction of New-Plimouth. Boston: Samuel Green, 1685. Source: American Treasures of the Library of Congress, Law Library
context_page_description: Col. William Brewster III was an English official who was a passenger on the Mayflower in 1620. He was a religious leader both in Europe and in Plymouth Colony. He was also one of the signers of the Mayflower Compact.
  William Brewster III was the son of Capt. William Brewster, Jr. and Mary Smythe Simkinson, Capt. William Brewster, Jr. was the son of Col. William Brewster, Sr. and Maud Mann, William III lived in Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, England.
  Brewster studied at Peterhouse, Cambridge. Cambridge was a university where many people wanted to change the Church of England. People who agreed with this started different religions. They were called Separatists. In England, Separatists were put into jail.
  Brewster worked for a time for William Davison in the Netherlands. Davison went to jail because he was a Separatist. When Davison went to jail, Brewster went back home to Scrooby for a time. He became a postmaster. Brewster began a Separatist church in his house. In 1607, He also went to jail for a short time for doing this in. Brewster and other members of the Church decided to move to Netherlands in 1608. They hoped that would be able to practice their religion there.
context_section_description: The Mayflower left Plymouth, England on 16 September 1620. There were 102 passengers and 30–40 crew. On 19 November 1620, the Mayflower reached land at Cape Cod hook. They landed on November 21. They wrote the Mayflower Compact, which made rules on how they would live and treat each other.
  Brewster became the senior religious leader at Plymouth Colony. He also served as an advisor to Governor William Bradford.
  The Brewster and his wife Mary had six children: Jonathan, Patience, Fear, who married Isaac Allerton, Unnamed child, Love Brewster, and Wrestling Brewster
  Brewster's son Jonathan, arrived the next year on the ship Fortune. Brewster's daughters Patience and Fear arrived aboard the Anne.
  Brewster was given land on the islands of Boston Harbor. Four of those islands are named after him. In 1632, Brewster also received lands in nearby Duxbury and moved there from Plymouth Colony to build a farm.
  An epidemic killed many English and Indians in the region. William Brewster lost two daughters, Fear and Patience in 1634.
  William Brewster died and was buried on 10 April 1644 at Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts. There is a memorial for him which says it is in honor of "Elder William Brewster Patriarch (father) of the Pilgrims and their Ruling Elder 1609–1644". The burial place of his wife Mary is unknown.
caption: The Book of the General Laws of the Inhabitants of the Jurisdiction of New-Plimouth. Boston: Samuel Green 1685
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