William
Brewster
was born in Scrooby, England in 1567.
He joined the Separatists, a Puritan
religious
group who were highly critical of the Church of England, while at
Cambridge University.
In 1589 Brewster returned to Scrooby where he became leader of the
Puritan congregation. He led a Puritan
migration to Amsterdam in 1608 and made his living publishing religious
books and exporting them to England.
In 1620 Brewster, Edward Winslow, William
Bradford, John Carver, and other
Separatists based in Holland decided to emigrate to America. One hundred
and two people boarded the Mayflower
and after crossing the Atlantic they decided to settle at a place
they called Plymouth in Massachusetts Bay.
The Separatists established their own government and John
Carver was elected governor of the colony. The plan was for the
pilgrims to live on fish caught from the sea. However, they were not
very successful at this, and by the spring of 1621 half of them had
died of starvation or disease. Brewster survived and as the only university
educated member of the community was seen as head of the church. William
Brewster died in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in April, 1644.
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