Mary Brewster (April 17, 1627) was a

Pilgrim A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journey (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the adherent of ...

and one of the women on the ''

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...

''. She was the wife of

Elder William Brewster William Brewster (1566–6710 April 1644) was an English official and ''Mayflower'' passenger in 1620. In Plymouth Colony, by virtue of his education and existing stature with those immigrating from the Netherlands, being a Brownist (or Purita ...

. She was one of only five adult women from the Mayflower to survive the first winter in the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

, and one of only four such to survive to the "first

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...

" in 1621, which she helped cook. As such, she is included in

Plimoth Plantation Plimoth Patuxet is a complex of living history museums in Plymouth, Massachusetts, founded in 1947. Formerly Plimoth Plantation, it replicates the original settlement of the Plymouth Colony established in the 17th century by the English coloni ...

's reenactment of that Thanksgiving. She had six children with William: Jonathan, Patience, Fear, Love, an unnamed child who died young, and Wrestling. Her son,

Jonathan Brewster Elder Jonathan Brewster (August 12, 1593 – August 7, 1659) was an early American settler, the son and eldest child of elder William Brewster and his wife, Mary. Brewster had two younger sisters, Patience and Fear, and two younger brother ...

(1593-1659) and his wife Lucretia Oldham, had nine children. One of those children was also named Mary Brewster. Her life in England is unknown, as is her maiden name; maiden names of Wentworth, Love, Wyrall, and others have been suggested.

References

* ''Of Mary Brewster: the identity of Mary, wife of elder William Brewster of the Mayflower voyage of 1620 from Plymouth, England, to New Plymouth, New England'', by John Griffiths Hunt (1984)
''The Brewster Genealogy, 1566–1907: a Record of the Descendants of William Brewster of the "Mayflower," ruling elder of the Pilgrim church which founded Plymouth Colony in 1620''
by Emma C. Brewster Jones, New York: Grafton Press. (1908) Year of birth uncertain 1560s births 1627 deaths People of colonial Massachusetts 17th-century English people 16th-century English women 17th-century American women 16th-century American women Mayflower passengers {{US-bio-stub

References

Further reading