| 2. | Hopkins Stephen was born about 1581 in Upper Clatford, Hampshire County, England; was christened in Upper Clatford, Hampshire County, England (son of Hopkins John and Williams Elizabeth); died in Plymouth, Plymouth County, MA. Notes:
Stephen Hopkins was born in England about 1580. He died in Plymouth between 6 June and 17 July 1644. His parentage has not been proved, but he may be the son of Stephen Hopkins of Wortley, Parish of Wotten Underedge, County of Gloucester, England and perhaps baptized there on 29 Oct. 1581.
The Wortley historian has conjectured, after a thorough study of the family, that Stephen of the Mayflower may well have been the son of Stephen Hopkins, a clothier of Wortley who also had a son, Robert Hopkins of London.
He sailed in the Mayflower to New England in 1620, as one of the "Londoners" or "strangers" recruited for the voyage with his wife, Elizabeth and children and two men servants, Edward Doty and Edward Lister. Upon the ship's arrival at Cape Cod 11 November, 1620, Stephen was among the men signing the Mayflower Compact in the ship's cabin. He was one of three men disignated to provide counsel and advice to Captain Myles Standish on the first land expedition of the Pilgrims in the New World. During the third day out, the company chanced upon an Indian deer trap and Stephen was able to explain it's funciton and danger to his fellows. In February of 1620/21, when Indians appeared on a neighboring hilltop, Captain Standish took Stephen Hopkins with him to negotiate with the "savages." Thereafter, Stephen was invariable deputized to meet the Indians and act as envoy to friendly Chief Massasoit, and he made a friend for the colonists of Samoset, another Indian whom Stephen entertained in his home.
Despite the mortality caused by tribulations of the first Pilgrim winter in New England, Stephen Hopkins' household of eight persons was one of only four households that escaped loss.
Stephen was referred to as a merchant and a planter in Plymouth records and also "Master." Only two others of the 17 free men on the oyage were so styled. He was also called "Gentleman".
He received a six-acre lot in the division of land in 1623 and later had other plots by grant or purchase. It is stated that he kept for his home throughout his life at Plymouth the lot on the easterly corner of Main and Leyden Streets that had been assigned to him on arrival. He built and owned the first wharf in Plymouth Colony of which there is record, selling it for sixty pounds in July of 1637. He built a home in Yarmouth on Cape Cod but returned to Plymouth and gave the Yarmouth dwelling to his son Giles, who remained there.
Stephen Hopkins was made a freeman by 1633 and served with sons, Giles and Caleb and son-in-law, Jacob Cooke as "Voluntary" in the Pequot War of 1637. He held the position of Assisant in the Colony from at least 1633 to 1636. Probably from his status in the Colony as a "stranger," Setphen found himself on occasion in official difficulty. In June of 1636, while serving as Assistant, he was fined for battery of John Tisdale. In 1637 and 1638 he was charged with various indiscretions involving the sale of intoxicants and other items at his dwelling. In 1638/39 he was found in contempt of court for refusing to deal fairly with Dorothy Temple, an apprentice girl, and in December of 1639, he was charged with selling a looking glass at an excessive price.
Stephen was probably the young man of that name who served as minister's clerk on the vessel "Sea Venture" which sailed from London 2 June 1609, bound for Virginia. The ship was severely damaged in a hurricane, and the company was washed ashore on the Mermudan "Ile of Divels" on 28 July. The 150 survivors were marooned on the island for nine months, building two vessels which ultimately took them to Virginia. During the sojourn, Stephen Hopkins encouraged an uprising by his fellows upon grounds that the Governor's authority pertained only to the existence in Bermuda. For his remarks he was placed under guard, brought before the company in manacles and sentenced to death by court martial. "But so penitent hee was and made so much moane, alleadging the ruine of his wife and children in this his trespasse," according to William Strachey's record of the voyage, that friends among his cohorts procured a pardon from the Governor. The two newly buildt vessels, the "Patience" and the "Deliverance," arrived at Jamestown on 24 May 1610, but no evidence has been found of Hopkins' residence there, and it is presumed he soon returned to his family in England. Strachey noted that while Hopkins was very religious, he was contentious and defiant of authority and possessed enough learning to undertake to wrest leadership from others.
The home in England of Stephen Hopkins was just outside of London Wall on the high road entering the city at Aldgate in the vicinity of Heneage House. In this neighborhood lived John Carver and William Bradford of the Mayflower company; Robert Cushman, the London agent for the Pilgrims; and Edward Southworth, who later came to New England. Stephen was called a tanner or leathermaker at the time of the Mayflower voyage.
His first wife and mother of Constance and Giles and perhaps John is unknown. She died before 1617/18. No authority has been found for the oft published identification of her as Constance Dudley.
His second marriage to Elizabeth Fisher was performed at St. Mary Matfellon, Whitechapel, London, England on 19 February 1617/18. (1618) She died in Plymouth after 4 February 1638/39.
Their first child, Demaris came on the Mayflower with Constance and Giles and was alive in 1627 but was probably the daughter reported by Bradford the have "dyed here."
Their second child, a son, Oeanus, so named because he was born aboard the Mayflower on the Atlantic Ocean between 16 September and 11 November 1620.
The will of Stephen Hopkins, dated 6 June 1644, was proved upon testimony of Wlliam Bradford and Myles Standish at a General Court at Plymouth on 20 August 1644. Calling himself of Plymouth in New England and "weake yet in good and prfect memory," he directed that his body be "buryed as neare as convenyently may be to my wyfe, Deceased." He made these bequests;
To son Giles Hopkins the great bull now in the hands of Mris. Warren.
To Steven Hopkins "my sonn Giles his sonne," 20 shillings in Mris. Warren's hands for the hire of said bull.
To Dau. Constanc Snow, wife of Nicholas, "my mare."
To Dau. Deborah Hopkins "the brodhorned black cowe and her calf and half the Cowe called Motley.
To Dau. Damaris Hopkins "the Cowe called Damaris heiffer and the white faced calf and half the cowe called Motley."
Biographical Summary
Stephen Hopkins was from Hampshire, England. He married his first wife, Mary, and in the parish of Hursley, Hampshire; he and wife Mary had their children Elizabeth, Constance, and Giles all baptized there. It has long been claimed that the Hopkins family was from Wortley, Gloucester, but this was disproven in 1998. For more information on the true English origins of Stephen Hopkins, see the "Published Research" section at the bottom of this page.
Stephen Hopkins went with the ship Sea Venture on a voyage to Jamestown, Virginia in 1609 as a minister's clerk, but the ship wrecked in the "Isle of Devils" in the Bermudas. Stranded on an island for ten months, the passengers and crew survived on turtles, birds, and wild pigs. Six months into the castaway, Stephen Hopkins and several others organized a mutiny against the current governor. The mutiny was discovered and Stephen was sentenced to death. However, he pleaded with sorrow and tears. "So penitent he was, and made so much moan, alleging the ruin of his wife and children in this his trespass, as it wrought in the hearts of all the better sorts of the company". He managed to get his sentence commuted.
Eventually the castaways built a small ship and sailed themselves to Jamestown. How long Stephen remained in Jamestown is not known. However, while he was gone, his wife Mary died. She was buried in Hursley on 9 May 1613, and left behind a probate estate which mentions her children Elizabeth, Constance and Giles.
Stephen was back in England by 1617, when he married Elizabeth Fisher, but apparently had every intention of bringing his family back to Virginia. Their first child, Damaris, was born about 1618. In 1620, Stephen Hopkins brought his wife, and children Constance, Giles, and Damaris on the Mayflower (child Elizabeth apparently had died). Stephen was a fairly active member of the Pilgrims shortly after arrival, perhaps a result of his being one of the few individuals who had been to Virginia previously. He was a part of all the early exploring missions, and was used almost as an "expert" on Native Americans for the first few contacts. While out exploring, Stephen recognized and identified an Indian deer trap. And when Samoset walked into Plymouth and welcomed the English, he was housed in Stephen Hopkins' house for the night. Stephen was also sent on several of the ambassadorial missions to meet with the various Indian groups in the region.
Stephen was an assistant to the governor through 1636, and volunteered for the Pequot War of 1637 but was never called to serve. By the late 1630s, however, Stephen began to occasionally run afoul of the Plymouth authorities, as he apparently opened up a shop and served alcohol. In 1636 he got into a fight with John Tisdale and seriously wounded him. In 1637, he was fined for allowing drinking and shuffleboard playing on Sunday. Early the next year he was fined for allowing people to drink excessively in his house: guest William Reynolds was fined, but the others were acquitted. In 1638 he was twice fined for selling beer at twice the actual value, and in 1639 he was fined for selling a looking glass for twice what it would cost if bought in the Bay Colony. Also in 1638, Stephen Hopkins' maidservant got pregnant from Arthur Peach, who was subsequently executed for murdering an Indian. The Plymouth Court ruled he was financially responsible for her and her child for the next two years (the amount remaining on her term of service). Stephen, in contempt of court, threw Dorothy out of his household and refused to provide for her, so the court committed him to custody. John Holmes stepped in and purchased Dorothy's remaining two years of service from him: agreeing to support her and child.
Stephen died in 1644, and made out a will, asking to be buried near his wife, and naming his surviving children.
To Dau. Ruth "the Cowe called Red Cole and her calfe and a Bull at yarmouth wch is an yeare and advantage old and half the curld Cowe."
To Dau. Elizabeth "the Cowe called Smykins and her calf and thother half of the Curld Cowe wth Ruth and an yearelinge heiffer wthout a tayle in the keepeing of Gyles Hopkins at Yarmouth."
To four daus. Deborah, Demaris, Ruth and Elizabeth Hopkins, all the moveable goods that belonged to his house, "and in case any of my said daughters should be taken away by death before they marryed then...their division to be equally devided amongst the Survivors."
To son Caleb, "heire apparent," house and lands at Plymouth, one pair of oxen and the hire of them, then in the hands of Richard Church, and "all my debts which are now oweing unto me."
The testator reserved to his daus. "free recourse to my house in Plymouth upon any occation there to abide and remayne for such tyme as any of them shall thinke meete and convenyent & they single persons." He named son, Caleb as executor, and Caleb and Captain Standish as joint supervisors of the will.
The inventory of his goods, taken by Captain Standish, Thomas Willet and John Doane on 17 July 1644, listed livestock (fifteen neat cattle, a horse and other stock), household goods, clothing, tools and more than seventeen pounds owed to Hopkins by debtors. The estate was given a total value of about 130 pounds. The division of his moveble estate to daughters Deborah, Damaris, Ruth and Elizabeth was made by son Caleb and Captain Standish on 30 november 1644.
In his list of the Mayflower passengers, Governor Bradford included: "Mr. Steven Hopkins, and Elizabeth, his wife, and 2 children, caled Giles, and Constanta, a doughter, both by a former wife; and 2 more by his wife caled Damaris and Oceanus; the last was borne at sea; and two servants, called Edward Doty and Edward Litster."
Taking note of changes after 30 years, Bradford wrote of the Hopkins family in the spring of 1651: "Mr. Hopkins and his wife are now both dead, but they lived above 20 years in this place, and had one sone and 4 doughters borne here. Ther sone became a seaman, and dyed at Barbadoes; one daughter dyed here, and 2 are maried, one of them hath 2 children; and one is yet to mary. So their increase which still survive are 5. But his sone Giles is maried and hath 4 children. His doughter Constanta is also maried and hath 12 children, all of them living, and one of them maried."
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As published in the American Genealogist which corrects some of the above ....
Stephen Hopkins was not from Wortley, Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, as has been previously published in numerous books and articles, and the claim he married a woman named Constance Dudley is complete fiction. This alleged origin was disproven in my article, "The True English Origins of Stephen Hopkins of the Mayflower", published in The American Genealogist 73:161-171. The Wotton-under-Edge claim was never factually sound to begin with, based simply on a few name coincidences and wild speculations.
The baptism records of Stephen Hopkins' children Giles and Constance, as well as an additional child Elizabeth, were discovered in the parish registers of Hursley, Hampshire, England. Below is a scan of the Hursley parish register for 1606 showing Constance Hopkins' baptism in the original records. For those of you who can't read the handwriting, it says: "undecimo de May, Constancia filia Steph. Hopkins fuit baptizata", which translates into English as "Eleventh day of May, Constance daughter of Steph. Hopkins was baptized."
And there in Hursley, on 9 May 1613, Mary Hopkins the wife of Stephen was buried. Mary's children Giles, Constance, and Elizabeth are all named in her probate estate papers dated 10 May 1613 and on file at the Hampshire Records Office (file: 1613AD/046).
The claim Stephen had a son William is based on Wotton-under-Edge records, and is invalid since that Hopkins family had no connection with the Mayflower. The claim that Stephen Hopkins of the Mayflower had a son Stephen baptized at St. Stephen Coleman Street, London on 22 December 1609 is also wrong--no such baptism record exists. This baptism is apparently an error for a real baptism which is found on 3 December 1609 at the parish of St. Katherine Coleman, London. This child died on 19 February 1609/10, and the father had another child named John Hopkins, baptized on 14 April 1611. Since Stephen Hopkins the Mayflower passenger was in Virginia at the time this child was conceived and later baptized, he could not have fathered it. The name Stephen Hopkins is quite common--there are at least five of them in London during this time period. This is just another man named Stephen Hopkins, and there is no connection with the Mayflower passenger of the same name
Died:
Bet 6 Jun and 17 Jul 1644
Bet 6 Jun and 17 Jul 1644
Stephen married Fisher Elizabeth about 19 Feb 1617 in St. Mary Matfellon, Whitechapel, Middlesex County, England. Elizabeth was born about 19 Feb 1617 in St. Mary Matfellon, White Chapel, Middlesex County, England; died in Plymouth, Plymouth County, Ma. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
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