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Description
In 1970, as reported by the Harrow Observer, a series of special edition stamps and postmarks were produced for the Mayflower 350th anniversary commemoration. Specific localities, such as Scrooby, were highlighted for their connection to the separatists. Designed by illustrator Fritz Wegner, the artwork shows a stylised Mayflower and a group of dressed Pilgrims. The article provides a brief narrative of the separatists, with a focus on the persecution and hardship they endured:
'They were persecuted for their belfies and in 1608 a band of Pilgrim tried to leave the country by sailing from the Lincolnshire port of Boston. They were apprehended and imprisoned. This unfortunate incident at Boston did not deter them and, indeed, one of the principal towns which they eventually founded in Massachusetts bears the name of the Lincolnshire seaport.
Later in 1608 the Pilgrims escaped to the Netherlands but eventually decided that only by making a fresh start in the New World would they find true religious freedom.
[...]
During the first year of the Pilgrim colony the settlers endured terrible hardships and many of them died of hunger and disease. Were it not for the help given to them by the Massachusetts Indians the Pilgrim colony might have been wiped out. The signing of the treaty with the Indians was shown on the 5c stamp of the series.'