TO THE ARCHIVES There are a few clues from primary sources such as WilliamBradford’s journal about the size and the layout of the ship Bradford also tells us that the ship’s master was named Mr Jones but he does not give his first name Marsden went to the archives of the High Court of Admiralty in London the English court that has dealt with disputes and lawsuits about ships and cargoes since the 1300s He reduced the number of possible Mayflowers that could have set sail across the Atlantic in fall 1620 to a handful and then to just one This Mayflower was partly owned by its master Christopher Jones and it originally came from Harwich England From 1611 the Mayflower was based in Rotherhithe in London England This picture of the commercial docks at Rotherhithe dates from 1813 HERRING TROUBLES We know from records kept at busy ports that before the Mayflower carried its human cargo across the Atlantic its job was to carry all sorts of other goods around Europe In 1609 the
Mayflower was on the return leg of a voyage to Norway packed with tar pine planks and herring The ship ran into a storm and had to dump a large part of its cargo overboard to lighten its load A lawsuit followed recorded in the High Court of Admiralty because the Mayflower did not deliver the full amount of herring In 1620 the Mayflower was hired to take a group of colonists the Pilgrims to North America This was the ship’s and its master’s first transatlantic voyage as well as the first for most but not all of the crew HISTORY DETECTIVES PORT BOOKS We know about the movements of the Mayflower before its journey across the Atlantic from records now held in the National Archives of the United Kingdom called port books Merchants importing goods from overseas were required to pay duties taxes at the port of unloading From 1565 until 1799 all of these taxable cargoes were recorded in the port books About 20,000 survive today You can find out more about port books at www nationalarchives gov uk records research-guides port-books htm
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE MAYFLOWER The Mayflower was about 100 feet 30 meters long and 25 feet 7 6 meters across at its widest point It was modeled on a type of Dutch trading ship called a fluyt pronounced flight with space for cargo below decks We know from William Bradford’s account that it had a capacity of 180 tons this means that it could fit at least 180 barrels of wine in its hold Fluyts were built to sail easily at sea with only a small crew They were however not designed to take cargoes of human passengers LIVING CONDITIONS The Mayflower had a tween or gun deck between the upper deck and its cargo hold The tween carried cannon and guns for defense This cramped space was where the Pilgrim passengers lived during the voyage There were no cabins no bathroom facilities and there was nowhere to cook and eat The height of the gun deck has been estimated at about 5 feet 6 inches 1 6 meters so tall people were not able to stand up straight The passengers put up makeshift wooden partitions to give families privacy They used buckets for toilets and for vomiting when seasickness struck which was frequent in the stormy Atlantic seas The foul-smelling air can only be imagined even though the Pilgrims made every effort to scrub their living quarters and air their bedding For the sake of their health they went on deck whenever they could frequently getting in the way
GOD S PROVIDENCE William Bradford tells of a sailor who was hostile to the Pilgrims He would always be condemning the poor people in their sickness If he were by any gently reproved he would curse and swear most bitterly Bradford goes on to relate how this sailor was punished for his behavior But it pleased God to smite this young man with a grevious disease of which he dyed in a desperate manner and so was himself the first that was thrown overboard For Bradford this was evidence of the just hand of God helping the Pilgrims in their time of need Foremast Mainmast Mizzenmast Poop house living quarters for the ship's officers Forecastle crew's food and supplies Crew's cabin Gun room Gun deck living quarters for the Pilgrims Cargo hold Rudder This diagram of the Mayflower shows the main areas of the ship It is based on accounts of the ship itself and on other similar ships of the time
