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5th April 1621: The Return of the Mayflower

1,568 views · Published 4 April 2015 · 2:01 · Indexed 6 November 2026

Channel: HistoryPod · 2015 · Education

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The story of the Mayflower usually focuses on its journey to New England, with the ship itself being a central character in the story of European settlers in North America.  However, the ship itself was nothing special.

By 1620 the Mayflower was already reaching the end of its working life.  It had been a cargo ship, regularly making short journeys to France in order to load up with wine and other goods to sell in England.  The ship’s voyage to the New World was in many ways just a delivery contract between the Pilgrims and the ship’s master, Christopher Jones.  With the Pilgrims safely ashore in America, Jones and his crew were free to return to England.

However, the bitter winter and outbreak of disease meant that construction of a settlement on land was not completed until March 1621.  With many of the ship’s crew struck down by disease, Jones was forced to stay until those of his crew who survived were fit enough for the return journey at the start of April.
After its return, Jones used the Mayflower for some other trading runs to France, but he died just a year later.  By 1624 the ship had also reached the end of its life.  Legend says that it was sold and broken up for scrap, with the beams used to construct a barn in the county of Buckinghamshire.

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