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Description
Several passengers on the Mayflower came from Billericay in Essex – including Christopher Martin, who was originally the governor of the leaky Speedwell. There had been religious dissenters in the town since the early 17th century; after the community outgrew several sites, a new large church was built in 1839 and soon after joined the Congregational Union.
In 1920, during the 300th anniversary, the Congregational Church was one key site in the county. The Essex Mayflower Memorial Committee, headed by the Mayor of Colchester and aided by figures from other towns like Southend, led the local campaign to create a ‘Mayflower tablet’ in the Church. Costing about £150 and made of white marble, the text reads:
“Erected to the memory of the heroic Pilgrim Fathers and especially Christopher Martin, Marie Martin, Solomon Prower and John Langerman of Billericay who sailed in the “Mayflower” 1620 & Peter Brown. This tablet erected by county subscription July 1920 in connection with the tercentenary celebrations.”
The main celebrations in Essex were not set to take place until September of that year, but because there were many Americans over to see the inauguration of an Abraham Lincoln statue in London, a special service was held in the Church at the end of July. Flags of England and America decorated the church, and speeches from both American and British ecclesiastical figures celebrated the ‘sturdy, Protestant principle’ and ‘the Anglo-Saxon people, who in unity could get the whole world to come to Jesus’. Mrs Sandford Bissell, a descendant of Governor William Bradford, unveiled the tablet on behalf of the Order of Descendants of Colonial Governors of the USA.
In 1920, during the 300th anniversary, the Congregational Church was one key site in the county. The Essex Mayflower Memorial Committee, headed by the Mayor of Colchester and aided by figures from other towns like Southend, led the local campaign to create a ‘Mayflower tablet’ in the Church. Costing about £150 and made of white marble, the text reads:
“Erected to the memory of the heroic Pilgrim Fathers and especially Christopher Martin, Marie Martin, Solomon Prower and John Langerman of Billericay who sailed in the “Mayflower” 1620 & Peter Brown. This tablet erected by county subscription July 1920 in connection with the tercentenary celebrations.”
The main celebrations in Essex were not set to take place until September of that year, but because there were many Americans over to see the inauguration of an Abraham Lincoln statue in London, a special service was held in the Church at the end of July. Flags of England and America decorated the church, and speeches from both American and British ecclesiastical figures celebrated the ‘sturdy, Protestant principle’ and ‘the Anglo-Saxon people, who in unity could get the whole world to come to Jesus’. Mrs Sandford Bissell, a descendant of Governor William Bradford, unveiled the tablet on behalf of the Order of Descendants of Colonial Governors of the USA.
Source
‘Mayflower memorial’, Chelmsford Chronicle (30th July 1920), 6.
For more information, on the Church see http://www.billericayurc.org.uk/history/
For more information, on the Church see http://www.billericayurc.org.uk/history/