''Griffin'' was the name of a 17th-century ship known to have sailed between

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and English settlements along

Massachusetts Bay Massachusetts Bay is a bay on the Gulf of Maine that forms part of the central coastline of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Description The bay extends from Cape Ann on the north to Plymouth Harbor on the south, a distance of about . Its ...

British America British America comprised the colonial territories of the English Empire, which became the British Empire after the 1707 union of the Kingdom of England with the Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, in the Americas from 16 ...

. Several historical and genealogical references show ''Griffin'' making such journeys in 1633 and 1634. The 1633 journey left from Downs, England and landed at

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 ...

Plymouth Colony Plymouth Colony (sometimes Plimouth) was, from 1620 to 1691, the British America, first permanent English colony in New England and the second permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony. It was first settled by the pa ...

on September 3. This 1633 journey carried religious dissidents, including

Thomas Hooker Thomas Hooker (July 5, 1586 – July 7, 1647) was a prominent English colonial leader and Congregational minister, who founded the Connecticut Colony after dissenting with Puritan leaders in Massachusetts. He was known as an outstanding spea ...

Samuel Stone Samuel Stone (July 18, 1602 – 20 July 1663) was a Puritan minister and co-founder of Hartford, Connecticut. Biography Stone was born in Hertford, the county town of Hertfordshire, England. The name of the town is pronounced "Hartford". ...

, John Cotton, and others totaling 200 people. The ship ''Griffin'' weighed in at 300 tons and she saw the birth of at least one child, Seaborn Cotton, during the 1633 voyage. In 1634 ''Griffin'' carried

Anne Hutchinson Anne Hutchinson (née Marbury; July 1591 – August 1643) was a Puritan spiritual advisor, religious reformer, and an important participant in the Antinomian Controversy which shook the infant Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1636 to 1638. Her ...

to the Massachusetts colony. Hutchinson's oldest son had preceded her the previous year, also on ''Griffin''. There are at least several other ships known to have used ''Griffin'' or similar names in preceding or following centuries. Most if not all such non-17th-century references probably refer to another vessel carrying the same name, such as the Danish warship '' Griffen'', which sailed the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

in the late 15th century, or

Robert de La Salle The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

's ship ''

Le Griffon ''Le Griffon'' (, ''The Griffin'') was a sailing vessel built by René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle in 1679. ''Le Griffon'' was constructed and launched at or near Cayuga Island on the Niagara River and was armed with seven cannons. The ...

'', which sailed the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

in the late 17th century.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffin (Ship) English emigration Pre-statehood history of Massachusetts Plymouth Colony Plymouth, Massachusetts Sailing ships Individual sailing vessels 1630s ships