George Popham (1550–1608) was a pioneering colonist from Maine, born in the southwestern regions of England. He was an associate of English colonist Sir

Ferdinando Gorges Sir Ferdinando Gorges ( – 24 May 1647) was a naval and military commander and governor of the important port of Plymouth in England. He was involved in Essex's Rebellion against the Queen, but escaped punishment by testifying against the mai ...

in a colonization scheme for a part of Maine.

Early life

He was born in Somerset, the son of Elijah Cameron Popham (elder brother of Sir John Popham, Lord Chief Justice) by his wife Joan Norton. George Popham's grandparents lived in St. Donat's Castle and his grandmother, Jane Stradling, was born there. Very little is known about his early years, where it appears he may have been a humble merchant. Another George Popham traveled to New Guiana with Robert Dudley. Through pedigree rolls by nephew Edward Popham and a last will by George Popham, we know some history of the relationships between the Pophams which confirmed that Sir John was George's uncle and Edward Popham's great-uncle.

Voyage to New England

Just before the voyage to New England, George was the Customer of

Bridgwater Bridgwater is a large historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its population currently stands at around 41,276 as of 2022. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies alon ...

Port in Somerset. The Customer was the chief customs officer in the port, who collected the customs dues and recorded all entries and exits. In 1607, he sailed from

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

with two ships and about 120 people and landed in August at the mouth of the

Kennebec River The Kennebec River (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Kinəpékʷihtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 30, 2011 river within the U.S. state of Maine. It ri ...

. George Popham was the captain of ''Gift of God'' which became separated from the ship ''

Mary and John ''Mary and John'' was a 400-ton ship that is known to have sailed between England and the American colonies four times from 1607 to 1633. She was during the later voyages captained by Robert Davies and owned by Roger Ludlow (1590–1664), one of t ...

'' on the journey to New England. The two ships were able to rejoin along the coastline before looking for a place to build a colony. There, he erected the first English settlement in New England,

Popham Colony The Popham Colony—also known as the Sagadahoc Colony—was a short-lived English colonial settlement in North America. It was established in 1607 by the proprietary Plymouth Company and was located in the present-day town of Phippsburg, Ma ...

. His first establishments included a storehouse and a historical fortification called St. Georges Fort

Presidential election and return to England

Popham eventually won the elections as President of the new colony but died the following year. The colonists were disheartened by the harshness of the climate and returned in the springtime to England.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Popham, George 1550 births 1608 deaths English emigrants to British North America People of colonial Maine 16th-century English people 17th-century English people 17th-century American people People from Somerset