Background
Why did these Yorkies venture so far from their beautiful county? Quite often it was because of religious persecution or for economic reasons.
Then there were Company's searching for gold, trading opportunities and the passage to the Indies and the Orient.
Sir Walter Raleigh tried to establish a colony called Roanoke back in 1585. I couldn't find any record of a Yorkshire man amongst them.
Then we come to Jamestown in Virginia. In 1607, the London Company landed 105 sponsored settlers at the James River encampment named in honour of King James I. The name of Francis Chapman of Yorkshire is mentioned as a 'planter' in Jamestown's Census of 1624. John Clayton, Rector of Crofton near Wakefield lived in Virginia for a while. Thomas Lester (1586-1635) of Shibden Hall near Halifax emigrated to Jamestown where he married his second wife, Anne Lewes. Their only child, Richard (1635-58) died leaving no offspring.
The story of the 'Mayflower' is quite well known and there are many websites giving all the details of their struggles and how they overcame at the Plymouth Colony. At least one of their first two governors was a Yorkshireman, William Bradford (1590-1657). There's still a debate as to whether their first governor, John Carver was born in Yorkshire. Doncaster claim's him as their own. He was a wealthy merchant in London with connections to Yorkshire and the woollen trade. Apparently the Carvers had owned land in Yorkshire for many years.
William Bradford (1590-1657) was born in Austerfield, Yorkshire and his story can be found online. In 1630 he began to
write the history of the colony. It is now published under the title 'Of Plymouth Plantation'
