Born ‎ 1564 at Canterbury, Kent, England--Mayflower, died ‎ Jan 21, 1621 at Plymouth, Massachusetts see notes‎, 56 or 57 years
CHILTON, Susanna (maiden name unknown) m. England bef. 1587, once thought to be Susanna Furner (dau. of his step-mother) [who came on the Mayflower], but recent research has proven this wrong;

b. information unknown. Wife of James Chilton
d. Plymouth shortly after 11 Jan 1620/21, the first winter
Primary Source: Mayflower Families (published by the General Society of Mayflower Descendants), Volume Fifteen, JAMES CHILTON 1997


See Michael Paulick, "The 1609-1610 Excommunications of Mrs. Chilton and Moyses Fletcher--Mayflower Pilgrims" in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, volume 153 (October 1999) for further information on this.

New Discoveries


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Researchers Michael R. and Pamela Lancaster Paulick have just recently discovered the excommunication records for two Mayflower passengers, Moses Fletcher and Mrs. Chilton, wife of James Chilton. Their full findings will be published in the October 1999 issue (due out in late November) of the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, volume 153, whole number 612. For those interested, the issue can be purchased for $10 by contacting the New England Historical and Genealogical Society toll-free at 1-888-296-3447. Be sure to let them know you heard about it on Caleb Johnson's Mayflower Web Pages! The findings are very briefly summarized below, along with some of my own comments. After the article is published, my web site will be updated to include the new information in all appropriate locations.



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The newly discovered excommunication record from St. Peter's, Sandwich, reads:

I the parson there doe present Thomas Bartlet the wife of James Chilton Danyell Hooke and Mosses Flecher all of our said parish for pryvatly burying a childe of Andrewe Sharpe of St. Maries parish who is strongly suspected not to dye an ordinary death the which they secretly conveyed to the earth without anie notice to given to me or my clarke of anie companie of neighboures but such only as semed accessary thereunto, this they did the 25 or 24 of Aprill last past, the lawfulness of which acte some of them seem now since to dissent by calling into question the lawfulnesse of the kinges constitutions in this and other behalfes, affirming these thing to be popishly cerimonious and of no other force; for the truth of all which the premisses with much more when it shall be further erquired I the now resident incumbent there have hereunto subscribed my name this 8 May 1609.

This excommunication record, and subsequent announcement to the entire church on 12 June 1609, are quite interesting. The group apparently buried a young child without following the proper ceremonies prescribed by the Church of England. Religious dissenters opposed such ceremonies, since they were not Biblically-based. It is interesting to note that this group of individuals from Sandwich, Kent was apparently not directly connected to the Scrooby, Nottinghamshire congregation (consisting of William Bradford, William Brewster, and other prominent Pilgrims, who were already in Leiden by this time), but instead came to Holland later--probably shortly after their excommunications--and joined up with the Scrooby congregation that was already living there.

The excommunication of Mrs. Chilton, whose first name is unfortunately left blank, is the first known record of a female Pilgrim having been excommunicated, or otherwise punished by the Church. William Bradford does tell us that in 1607, during one of the Pilgrim's attempts to flee England, that many English women of the Scrooby congregation were arrested and detained in Boston, Lincolnshire, when a mishap caused them to become separated from their husbands. However, no records of these arrests, jailing, or excommunication have been noted by researchers thus far.



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Mayflower Web Pages. Caleb Johnson © 1999
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Born ‎ 1563 at Canterbury, Kent, England----Mayflower see notes, died ‎ Dec 8, 1620 at Cape Cod, Barnstable, Massachusetts‎, 56 or 57 years
CHILTON, James

b. prob. Canterbury, Kent, England, before 1556. Tailor. Saint. Lived in Leiden. 24th signer of Compact [Oldest passenger on the Mayflower]
m. England bef. 1587, once thought to be Susanna Furner (dau. of his step-mother) [who came on the Mayflower], but recent research has proven this wrong; Ten children
d. 18 Dec 1620 aboard the Mayflower in Cape Cod Harbor after arrival
Primary Source: Mayflower Families (published by the General Society of Mayflower Descendants), Volume Fifteen, JAMES CHILTON 1997

James Chilton



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Breaking News! (November 1999). An excommunication record, and a few additional Chilton records, have recently been discovered and will be published later this month. For more information on these discoveries, click here. New Discoveries


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Researchers Michael R. and Pamela Lancaster Paulick have just recently discovered the excommunication records for two Mayflower passengers, Moses Fletcher and Mrs. Chilton, wife of James Chilton. Their full findings will be published in the October 1999 issue (due out in late November) of the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, volume 153, whole number 612. For those interested, the issue can be purchased for $10 by contacting the New England Historical and Genealogical Society toll-free at 1-888-296-3447. Be sure to let them know you heard about it on Caleb Johnson's Mayflower Web Pages! The findings are very briefly summarized below, along with some of my own comments. After the article is published, my web site will be updated to include the new information in all appropriate locations.



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The newly discovered excommunication record from St. Peter's, Sandwich, reads:

I the parson there doe present Thomas Bartlet the wife of James Chilton Danyell Hooke and Mosses Flecher all of our said parish for pryvatly burying a childe of Andrewe Sharpe of St. Maries parish who is strongly suspected not to dye an ordinary death the which they secretly conveyed to the earth without anie notice to given to me or my clarke of anie companie of neighboures but such only as semed accessary thereunto, this they did the 25 or 24 of Aprill last past, the lawfulness of which acte some of them seem now since to dissent by calling into question the lawfulnesse of the kinges constitutions in this and other behalfes, affirming these thing to be popishly cerimonious and of no other force; for the truth of all which the premisses with much more when it shall be further erquired I the now resident incumbent there have hereunto subscribed my name this 8 May 1609.

This excommunication record, and subsequent announcement to the entire church on 12 June 1609, are quite interesting. The group apparently buried a young child without following the proper ceremonies prescribed by the Church of England. Religious dissenters opposed such ceremonies, since they were not Biblically-based. It is interesting to note that this group of individuals from Sandwich, Kent was apparently not directly connected to the Scrooby, Nottinghamshire congregation (consisting of William Bradford, William Brewster, and other prominent Pilgrims, who were already in Leiden by this time), but instead came to Holland later--probably shortly after their excommunications--and joined up with the Scrooby congregation that was already living there.

The excommunication of Mrs. Chilton, whose first name is unfortunately left blank, is the first known record of a female Pilgrim having been excommunicated, or otherwise punished by the Church. William Bradford does tell us that in 1607, during one of the Pilgrim's attempts to flee England, that many English women of the Scrooby congregation were arrested and detained in Boston, Lincolnshire, when a mishap caused them to become separated from their husbands. However, no records of these arrests, jailing, or excommunication have been noted by researchers thus far.
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Mayflower Web Pages. Caleb Johnson © 1999



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BORN: About 1556 (he stated he was 63 in a 28 April 1619 Leyden document), probably Canterbury, Kent, England, son of Lyonell Chilton and his second wife (her name is unknown).
DIED: 8 December 1620, on board the Mayflower
MARRIED: probably about 1586 based on baptism of first known child. Her name is currently unknown. The claim by John Hunt in The American Genealogist 38:244-245 that his wife was possibly Susanna Furner has been recently disproven on the basis of the discovery of Susanna Furner's baptism record, which indicates she was far too young (only 12) to be married and having children in 1586. See Michael Paulick, "The 1609-1610 Excommunications of Mrs. Chilton and Moyses Fletcher--Mayflower Pilgrims" in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, volume 153 (October 1999) for further information on this.



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CHILDREN: NAME BIRTH / BAPTISM DEATH / BURIAL MARRIAGE
Isabella bp. 15 January 1586/7, St. Paul, Canterbury, England unknown Roger Chandler, 21 July 1615, Leyden, Holland
Jane bp. 8 June 1589, St. Paul, Canterbury, England unknown unknown
Mary b. prob. Canterbury, England bur. 23 November 1593, St. Martin's Parish, Canterbury, England unmarried
Joel b. prob. Canterbury, England bur. 2 November 1593, St. Martin's Parish, Canterbury, England unmarried
Elizabeth bp. 14 July 1594, St. Martin, Canterbury, England unknown unknown
James bp. 22 August 1596, St. Martin, Canterbury, England died young unmarried
Ingle bp. 29 April 1599, St. Paul, Canterbury, England unknown Robert Nelson, 27 August 1622, Leyden, Holland
Christian bp. 26 July 1601, St. Peter, Sandwich, England (daughter) unknown unknown
James bp. 11 September 1603, St. Peter, Sandwich, England unknown unkno
Mary bp. 31 May 1607, St. Peter, Sandwich, England bef. 1 May 1679, Boston John Winslow, bet. July 1623 and 22 May 1627


NOTE: Mary Chilton's baptism has been erroneously published as 30 May 1607 in numerous sources. I have verified with the original parish registers that the correct date is 31 May 1607.






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ANCESTRAL SUMMARY:
(3). Richard Chilton married Isabel (---) and had son,

(2). Lyonell Chilton who married a second wife, name unknown and had s

(1). James Chilton of the Mayflower

Will of Mary (Chilton) Winslow



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BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY:
James Chilton, a tailor by trade, was the oldest Mayflower passenger, and one of the first to die after reaching the New World. He was born and raised in Canterbury, Kent, England and around 1600 moved to Sandwich, Kent.

By July 1615, and probably as early as 1610, James, his wife, and at least some of his children were living in Leyden, Holland. On 28 April 1619, James Chilton and his daughter Isabella were caught in an anti-Arminian riot and James was hit in the head with a brick, and required the services of the town surgeon, Jacob Hey.

He came on the Mayflower with his wife and daughter Mary. James and his wife died the first winter, leaving their daughter orphaned; she probably joined with the household of Myles Standish.

Mary Chilton came on the Mayflower at the young age of 13, and popular legend gives her the distinction of being the first female to step ashore at Plymouth. She married John Winslow, who came in the ship Fortune in 1621, and was the brother of Mayflower passengers Edward Winslow and Gilbert Winslow.



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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to Michael R. Paulick for obtaining a copy of James Chilton's signature from the Leiden Archives, and providing a copy to the Mayflower Web Pages.



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SOURCES:
Robert Moody Sherman, Mayflower Families for Five Generations: James Chilton, Richard More, and Thomas Rogers, volume 2 (Plymouth: General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1978).

John G. Hunt, "Origins of the Chiltons of the Mayflower," The American Genealogist, 38:244-245.

Robert C. Anderson, The Great Migration Begins, 1:353-355 (Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1995).



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Mayflower Web Pages. Caleb Johnson © 1999

The Mayflower Compact (1620)
The settlers who came to the New World brought with them a great deal of baggage in the form of ideas and beliefs they had held dear in England. Indeed, many of them, such as the Puritans, came to America so they could live in stricter accord with those beliefs. The Pilgrims, a branch of the Puritans, arrived off the coast of Massachusetts in November 1620, determined to live sacred lives according to biblical commands, and in so doing to build a "city upon a hill" that would be a beacon to the rest of the world.

But aside from their religious enthusiasm, the Pilgrims also knew that the English settlement founded a few years earlier at Jamestown in Virginia had practically foundered because of the lack of a strong government and leadership. They would not make that mistake, and agreed that once a government had been established, they would obey the commands of its leaders.

In making this compact, the Pilgrims drew upon two strong traditions. One was the notion of a social contract, which dated back to biblical times and which would receive fuller expression in the works of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke later in the century. The other was the belief in covenants. Puritans believed that covenants existed not only between God and man, but also between man and man. The Pilgrims had used covenants in establishing their congregations in the Old World. The Mayflower Compact is such a covenant in that the settlers agreed to form a government and be bound by its rules.

The Compact is often described as America's first constitution, but it is not a constitution in the sense of being a fundamental framework of government. Its importance lies in the belief that government is a form of covenant, and that for government to be legitimate, it must derive from the consent of the governed. The settlers recognized that individually they might not agree with all of the actions of the government they were creating; but they, and succeeding generations, understood that government could be legitimate only if it originated with the consent of those it claimed to govern.

For further reading: William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation (Morison, ed., 1952); George Langdon, Pilgrim Colony (1966); John Demos, A Little Commonwealth (1970).


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The Mayflower Compact
We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, etc.

Having undertaken, for the Glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith and Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the First Colony in the Northern Parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one of another, Covenant and Combine ourselves together into a Civil Body Politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute and frame such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod, the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France and Ireland the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Domini 1620.

Source: William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647 (Samuel Eliot Morison, ed., 1952), 75-76.
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The Mayflower Chilton’s
In Canterbury, 1556 to 1600

Article from the New England ancestors Spring 2007, by Michael R. Paulick


The Chilton’s son, James, an unnamed wife, and their youngest child, Mary, were Mayflower passengers. James Chilton was probably the oldest passenger on the ship. He died on board, about December 1620, when the ship was off Cape Cod, probably never having set foot in New England. His wife died shortly thereafter. Americans descend from their daughters, Mary, Mary John Winslow, and Isabel, who married Roger Chandler and emigrated with him in 1632. James children was born in St. Paul’s Parish, Canterbury, 1556. 1 His father and grandfather also from that same parish.2 [Their wives and all maternal ancestry is unknown.] This article offers some details of the children’s families years in Canterbury.

Canterbury was a major ecclesiastical and provincial center in eastern Kent in the southeast of England. the main crossroads between London and the European mainland, Its diverse population included Welsh, Irish, Scots, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, and Wallon.3

St. Paul’s Parish Church - still used today - was about 30 yards south of the city wall, on the medial and earlier Roman road that ran eastwards to Sandwich, approximately 12 miles distant. The churches in the shadow of the Canterbury Cathedral and the remains of Saint Augustine’s Abbey Church.4 St. Paul’s dates from the 12th
Century and was extended in 1847. The original nave, in which the Chilton family worshipped, may be seen today on the north aisle and it’s north pillars, are the original construction.5 Lyonelle. Chilton, James father, was a churchwarden in 1578 and 1579, and James brother John a churchwarden from 1585 through 1588, and 1593 through 1597.6

1 No record of James Chilton’s christening has been found. The best-known for his best source for his age is the 1619 Leiden Statement of Facts discovered by Dr. Jeremy Dupertuis Bangs,director of the American Pilgrim Museum, Leiden, the Netherlands. This document describe Chilton as “approximately 63 years of age”. Leiden municipal archives, Leiden Regional Archives, Notarrieel Archief 180 [pacts, 1618 to 1619], fol. 239 recto-240 recto, Jeremy D. Bangs, Ed. The Pilgrims in the Netherlands, Recent Research Papers presented at a symposium held by the Leiden Pilgrim Documents Center and the Sir Thomas Browne Institute September 7, 1984 [Leiden: Leiden Pilgrim Documents Center 1985], 34

2 Mrs. Russell Mack Skelton, “Copies of Wills of the Chilton Family,” The Mayflower Quarterly, [1961] 1: 5-6. H See also PRC 17/44/45,1582, Lionell Chilton, Center for Kentish studies, Maidstone , Kent.
3 Michael Zell, Ed, Early M [Woodbridge, Boydell press and Kent County Council, 2000]. 119

4 Ordnance Survey Historical Map & Guide: Roman and Medieval Canterbury [ Southampton, 1990]

5 St. Paul’s Church leaflet, undated and author unknown.

6 Cowper, Joseph Meadows, Ed. The Register Book of Christenings Marriages and Burials in the parishe of of St. Paule without the walles of the citie of Canterburie, 1562 to 1800, [ Cross and Jackman, 1893], introduceion to III. Microfiche at Canterbury Cathedral archives.

James Chilton’s first child was almost certainly Joell, christened at St. Paul’s in August 16, 1584.7 Christening record listed him as Joell Chilton [Joell was a very unusual name] but did not identify a father. The bishop’s transcripts included a burial record in St. Martin’s Church, Canterbury, on November 2, 1593, which confirmed that a child named Joell was the son of James Chilton.8 Isabel, christened in 1586, and has commonly been identified as the firstborn child, but I believe this claim is mistaken. [In all, seven children would be born to the Chilton’s in Canterbury]. In another case of mistaken identity, it has been suggested that James Chilton married his stepsister Susanna Furner. James Chilton was probably married in 1583, at the age of about twenty-seven, or earlier. The parish register clearly showed a crispy christening record for “Susan Furner on the 5th daye” of November 15 73. 9 It is very unlikely that a 27-year-old Chilton married his 10-year-old stepsister.10 The identity of Mrs. Chilton remains a mystery.

In the first Canterbury city records to include James Chilton report that he became a “Merchant Tailor” “Freeman by Gift,” of Canterbury in 1583. In 1582 the Mayor of Canterbury, John Nutt, enjoyed the privilege of nominating one freeman by gift within the year of taking office. He “gifted” Chilton when the latter was about twenty-seven, perhaps around the time of Jame’s marriage. Chilton purchased a place in the company of Woollen Draper’s and Tailors. As a freeman of Canterbury he could operate his business without restraint and employ apprentices. Chilton and rolled to apprentices Nicholas Rigden on June 4, 1583, and Stephen Morris [or Morrys], his brother-in-law, in 1597. 11

Numerous instances of James Chilton’s encounters with the law are detailed in the Canterbury city records. In 1584 Chilton is ordered to appear in court and “to keep the peace.” The details of the offense are unknown. Later that year James Chilton and Daniel Wylkyenson posted bail of 10 pounds each for Alexander Stonnard. 12 Dr. William Urry, archivist at Canterbury, reported in 1970 that Chilton was presented for “chiding and brawling in the [St. Paul’s] church” in April 1586. 13 James Chilton, William Thompson, and Stephen Morrys [as noted above, a laborer and Chilton’s brother-in-law] were “bound over” [placed under legal obligation] in 1593 for the large sum of 60 pounds, 13 shillings, and four pence. The alleged crime is not specified. 14 Chilton was in trouble again in 1594 for beating a man with a stick. 15 In 1598, Chilton and another person were guaranteed to the court for the good behavior of Richard Allen, who kept a “common alehowse or typling howse” in St. Paul’s parish. 16 In 1600 Chilton was fined six shillings and eight pence for “victual ling” “selling food and/or drink without a license in the city of Canterbury. The fine was canceled when he agreed to cease after Christmas. 17 This agreement is the last known record of James Chilton the city of Canterbury.

In about 1600 Chilton family moved to Sandwich, Kent, where their daughter, Christian, was christened in St. Peter’s Church on July 26, 1601. 18 [ Two more children would be born to the Chilton’s in Sandwich]. There they met with other separatists and probably joined a conventical.19 Later they were members of the Pilgrim congregation in Leiden, Holland, before making a fateful decision to immigrate on the Mayflower.

7 ibid

8 Saint Martin's Church - description [Canterbury buildings 1999- 2004]. http://weblingua..hostinguk..com/invictaweb//canturbury-buildings/pages/stmart1b.htm [accessed November 17, 2006]. See maps page especially map 5, 1822. Several interesting photographs of St.t Martin's may bey found at Stephen Bax's excellent and informative Canterbury Buildings website.

9 Original Parish Register St. Paul's, Canterbury. See also Cowper [note 6]

10 John G. Hunt "Origins of the Chilton's of the Mayflower," The American Genealogists 38 [1962]: 244; original Parish Register, St. Paul's, Canterbury

11 Canterbury Lists of freemen and their apprentices, 1983, typescript at Canterbury Cathedral archives.

12 QS/JQ 382 [1584] and CC/JQ/382/Iv at Canterbury Cathedral Archives.

13 Dr. William Urry, "Preparations for the Voyage" Kentish Gazette of September 18, 1970, 22

14 Stephen Morrys was almost certainly the brother-in-law who married his sister Alice Chilton and 1579. Canterbury Quarter Sessions QS/JQ/392 [Latin]; Urry "Preparations" [note 13]

15 Urry, "Preparations" [note 13]

16 QM/RL v 45 July 25, 1598, Victualler's recognizances, Kent Quarter Sessions at Maidstone Archives.

17 Urry, "Preparations" [note 13]

18 St. Peter's Sandwich, Parish register.

19 an illegal religious meeting.

Michael R Paulick researches ithe Mayflower Pilgrims and their associates in Kent, England. Mr. Paulick's e-mail address is Mrpca17@aol.com.















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