The amazing voyage of the Pilgrim Fathers
TO SEND US YOUR FEATURES IDEAS CLICK HERE THE tiny Bassetlaw villages of Babworth and Scrooby played a crucial role in the story of the Pilgrim Fathers.
For it was in these communities that the idea of a new life in an alien land free from religious persecution developed and finally came to
fruition.
The people who would come to be known as Pilgrims were brought together by a common belief in the doctrine promoted by Richard Clyfton, parson at Babworth's All Saint's Church.
They believed in a form of religious worship where people could worship God without the trappings and constraints imposed by the Church of England.
These included fines of 12d (around 5) for not attending official
Church of England services on each Sunday and Holy Day.
Eight miles away in Scrooby, village postmaster and bailiff to the
Archbishop of York, William Brewster, was also embracing similar
views and was taking part in Separatist services led by John Smyth
in Gainsborough.
Clyfton's views finally led him to be branded a non-conformist. He was
subsequently stripped of his position at Babworth and moved in with
Brewster, which led to the formation of a congregation with Clyfton as
pastor and Brewster as elder.
A hefty fine of around 20 (2,000) for non-compliance with the
established church was the final straw for Brewster, who decided to
follow Smyth and the rest of the group and seek a new life in Holland.
Although they had not been forced to suffer persecution, the group had
been subjected to ecclesiastical investigation, mockery, criticism and
the disfavour of their neighbours.
Amsterdam was looked on as their Promised Land. However, leaving England was no easy matter. Congregation members, unable to obtain the necessary papers, secretly chartered a boat from Boston in Lincolnshire.
Unfortunately, they were all arrested and jailed for a month before
they were eventually released.
Ultimately at least 150 of the congregation made it and met up
with the Smyth party in Holland.
The group eventually moved to Leiden and, although things went
well initially, it eventually became clear that they would have to leave.
Holland was a land whose culture and language was strange and
difficult for the English congregations to understand or learn.
And as time went on, their children were becoming more and more Dutch until members eventually came to believe they faced extinction if they stayed.
In addition, the congregation was aging, some members had used up all their savings and had returned to England and there was a real fear
others would follow, making the group unsustainable.
A decision to leave was proving to be inevitable, but to where? A series of intense negotiations followed during which time the members seemed unsure of their final destination.
Eventually a piece of land north of the existing Virginia territory in the New World was decided upon.
However, not all the congregation would be able to leave on the first
trip. Time would be tight, the budget for travel would be limited and only the fittest and strongest would be allowed to go as the journey would be rigorous, to say the least.
Once everything was in order, the group managed to get hold of a small
ship named the Speedwell to get them from the Netherlands to
England and then America.
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Weather for Worksop
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 10 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North
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Cloudy
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