Christopher Jones Statue, St Mary the Virgin Church (Rotherhithe, 1995)

Captain Christopher Jones was based in Rotherhithe, on the Thames, with the Mayflower; he was buried in the grounds of St Mary’s Church in 1622 (though the grave is now lost). A blue plaque on the church states ‘In 1620 the Mayflower sailed from Rotherhithe on the first stage of its epic voyage to America. In command was Captain Christopher Jones of Rotherhithe.’

In 1995, the 375th anniversary of the voyage, a sandstone sculpture commemorating the captain, by Jamie Sargeant, was unveiled. Jones is depicted as St Christopher (the patron saint of travellers) and holding a baby (in reference to the legend that St Christopher unknowingly carried the baby Christ across a river before He revealed himself). Jones looks back to the old world while the baby gazes towards the New. The plinth is in the shape of a ship’s prow, upon which is written: “To the memory of Christopher Jones 1570 - 1622, Master of the Mayflower. He landed 102 planters and adventurers at Plymouth Massachusetts 21 Dec 1620. They formed the Mayflower Compact & the first permanent colony in New England.”

Peter Matthews, London’s Statues and Monuments (London, 2018), p. 195

https://www.mayflower400uk.org/education/who-were-the-pilgrims/2019/july/christopher-jones/