Stephen Hopkins, - Mayflower Passenger and early settler of Jamestown Va

1581 - 1644  (63 years)

• Name	Stephen Hopkins  [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
  Suffix	- Mayflower Passenger and early settler of Jamestown Va
  Birth	30 Apr 1581	Upper Clatford, Hampshire, England   [1, 2, 7]
  Gender	Male
  Departure	1620  [2]
  _MARRIED (I)	N
  Residence	New England   [5]
  Residence	USA, Massachusetts, Plymouth, Plymouth   [2]
  Residence	Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA   [2]
  Residence	1620	Plymouth, Mass.   [3]
  Death	17 Jul 1644	Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA   [1, 2, 6, 7]
  Person ID	I15924	Ancestrees
  Last Modified	3 Mar 2026

  
  

  Family 1	1st Wife of Stephen Hopkins   d. England
  Married	Abt 1605	England   [6]
  Marriage	Feb 1618  [7]
  Children	1. Constance (Constancia) Hopkins, Mayflower passenger,   b. 11 May 1606, Hursley, Hampshire, England d. 25 Oct 1677, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, USA (Age 71 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
  Family ID	F5449	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	3 Mar 2026

  
  

  Family 2	Elizabeth Fisher   d. Bef 6 Jun 1644, Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA
  Marriage	19 Feb 1617/18	St Mary Matfellon, Whitechapel, London   [1]
  Children	1. Deborah Hopkins,   b. Abt 1626   d. 1659 (Age 33 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   2. Oceanus Hopkins,   b. 1620   d. 22 May 1627 (Age 7 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   3. Caleb Hopkins,   b. 28 Oct 1623   d. 1651 (Age 27 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   4. Damaris Hopkins   d. 16 Jan 1666  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   5. Ruth Hopkins   d. 1651  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   6. Elizabeth Hopkins   d. 1659  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
  Family ID	F5450	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	3 Mar 2026

  
  

• Photos		Mayflower (4AC4B7F515DC44C3B2B486C970BCC99E).jpg
  		Hopkins.jpg

  
  

  Documents

  Mayflower (596D738191B745B7A27A16BBC125D034).jpg

  
  

• Notes

  Stephen was literally a shipwrecked survivor stranded on Bermuda when their ship bound for early Jamestown wrecked after 5 days of heavy storms. By 1610, these men had built 2 boats that got them to Jamestown in 11 days time. The accounts that came from this experience back to England supposedly inspired Shakespeare's last play, The Tempest, about the shipwrecked "Stephnos". Stephen spent 4 years in the Jamestown colony contributing his skills as a tanner and elsewise where he learned much about the native tribes including some of their language. He was recalled to England when his wife died unexpectedly leaving their 3 small children orphaned in 2013. He received word of this in 2014. Apparently the new world had gotten under his skin. When he heard about the Mayflower signing up persons to go to the Virginia Colony in 1820, he signed up himself and his family with another wife, Elizabeth. They were the only family on the ship that was not of Puritan background. He is the only person on it with previous experience in the new world. The Mayflower could not get into Virginia due to weather and landed on what became known as Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts. Stephen had expressed the idea back in Bermuda, that the survivors were no longer under contract with the company that shipped them to Jamestown since they did not arrive safely there as promised. He talked about self-governing and brought new ideas to the world having to do with his understanding of Democracy. He was sentenced to death by the Governor of Jamestown whom was also on this stranded ship. His life was spared at the last moment because of those other men who spoke up on his behalf. Naturally though, when the Mayflower did not make it to Virginia, he influenced the writing of the Mayflower Compact which basically professed the same thing. These ideas starting showing up in other major documents including our Declaration of Independence and Constitution written a century and a half later. He proved invaluable to the fledgling government. He was an aide to the Governor of Plymouth and key figures like Myles Standish and Edward Winslow. He was the "ambassador" to the Native tribes and meetings with them would take place at his home. We descend from his daughter Constance. She came with her father at about age 14. She had a long life, marriage and 12 children.

  
  

• Sources

  [S354] Ancestry.com, U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2012;), Genealogical Publishing Co.; Baltimore, MD, USA; Volume Title: Third Supplement to Torrey's New England Marriages Prior to 1700. [S1223] Ancestry.com, New England, The Great Migration and The Great Migration Begins, 1620-1635, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2013;). [S3547] Ancestry.com, Matthews' American Armoury and Blue Book, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2001;). [S545] Ancestry.com, Mayflower Births and Deaths, Vol. 1 and 2, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2013;). [S3548] Ancestry.com, Mayflower Deeds and Probates, 1600-1850, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Lehi, UT, USA; Date: 2013;). Mayflower Deeds and Probates, 1600-1850 [S354] Ancestry.com, U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2012;), Genealogical Publishing Co.; Baltimore, MD, USA; Volume Title: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. [S185] Ancestry.com, North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2016;), Book Title: A family history : recording the ancestors of Russell Snow Hitchcock : this includes the ancestral. North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000