Question

Is it possible to learn when and on what ship my fore bearer, Robert Carver (1594-1680) came to Marshfield MA?

Comments

Lew, best of luck with research.  Quick tip, from the profile on wikitree click on the 'ask a question' button.  That will create the G2G post with a built-in link on the profile so in the future folks can see that there was a G2G discussion on the person.  You might be able to edit your original question to include his WT ID Carver-253.

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Added the profile link to the question.

Answer 1

I think more important than what ship he arrived on is sorting out the contradictions on his profile. I found the marriage record that supports Christian's maiden name being Turner and added the source to Robert's profile but as I looked closer at the profile I saw some contradictions so someone needs to look closer at things. It says, "Robert Carver of Plymouth Colony "almost certainly" the Robert Carver who with his wife Christian had three children baptized at St. Mary Matfelon, Whitechapel: a daughter Elizabeth in 1632, a son William in 1635, and a son John, on 23 Dec 1636." but then it says, "Robert and Christian had only one child:

John Carver, b c. 1637 England; m 4 Nov 1658 to" and doesn't complete the sentence. There can't be 3 and also only one child at the same time. There is a christening source with these parents names stating 23 Dec 1636, Saint Mary Matfelon, Stepney, Middlesex, England. But if I have the locations right, the christening was over 80 miles east of the marriage. Then his profile says born in Duxbury, Plymouth, not England. There is one contradiction after another. I think someone needs to start from scratch, using only sources then add the rest in a research notes section.

Answer 2

I did not see his name on this site (https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm?), but check the bottom of the page for "Additional good ship pages:"

Answer 3

Probably not. There were estimated 20,000 persons who migrated to New England between 1630 and  1640. This was almost 400 years ago. Assuming passenger lists actually existed, what do you suppose happens to piles of paper in 400 years? They were destroyed by fires, water, insects, tossed into garbage heaps or burned to start the fire in the customs house. I'm amazed that any lists survived (See John Hotten's " The original lists of persons of quality, emigrants; religious exiles ... " primarily 1635.) I suppose sometime, some more lists may be discovered buried in a file room or warehouse. The lists you find on the internet are frequently reconstructed lists based on the time of arrival and an occasionally known ship name. For instance passengers on the Hector 1637 (New Haven) are loosely based on who arrived in New Haven in 1638, but are mostly just guess work.

 

Comments

I was about to post something similar.  Without a ship, the next best thing is probably the first known record of your ancestor in New England. According to the Great Migration Directory for Robert Carver that would be Plymouth Colony Record 1:94 - https://archive.org/details/cu31924082456553/page/n115/mode/2up

Answer 4

Yes! Robert Carver came to Duxbury/Marshfield, MA in 1638 on an unknown ship according to p 58 in The Great Migration Directory: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1640 by Robert Charles Anderson. This is from The Carver Family of New England: Robert Carver of Marshfield and His Descendants (n.p. 1935), which can be obtained in digital or paper form online.