James Chilton (abt. 1556 - 1620)

Born about 1556 in Canterbury, Kent, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 8 Dec 1620 at about age 64 in The Mayflower, Provincetown Harbor, Cape Cod

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Biography

James Chilton was the oldest passenger on the Mayflower.

He was probably born about 1555,^[1] in Kent, England, to Lyonell Chilton (1530-1582)^[2] and probably Edith.^[3]

The surname Chilton appears in Kent as early as 1339. For James's ancestry see The Mayflower Quarterly, August, 1977, pp. 81ff.

He became a tailor, and was made a freeman of Canterbury in 1583.^[4]

Around 1600, he moved to Sandwich, Kent. By 1615 he was in Leyden, with some of his children. On April 28, 1619, James and his daughter Isabel were caught in an anti-Arminian riot and James was hit in the head with a large stone and required the services of the town surgeon, Jacob Hey.

The name of James's wife has not been found. The baptisms of his children are recorded in the registers of St. Paul's, and later St Martin's, in Canterbury, and then at Sandwich, but their mother is never named.

The suggestion by John G. Hunt in The American Genealogist 38:244-245 that his wife was possibly Susanna Furner has been recently disproven on the basis of the discovery of Susanna Furner's baptism record, which indicates she was far too young (only 12) to be married and having children in 1586.

On September 6, 1620, the Mayflower left Plymouth, England. On board were James, his wife, and their daughter Mary, 13. James Chilton signed the Mayflower Compact 11 Nov 1620.^[5] Both James and his wife died on the ship before the winter was out.^[6] Mary is traditionally said to have been the first female to step ashore at Plymouth, and is assumed to have joined the Myles Standish household. She later married John Winslow, who arrived on the "Fortune".

His descendants for five generations are given in Mayflower Families through Five Generations (Plymouth, MA: General Society of Mayflower Descendants, Vol. II)

A memorial erected in Provincetown, Massachusetts in 1920 mentions Chilton and others who died aboard the Mayflower after it arrived in Provincetown harbour.^[7]

Children^[8]

1. Isabella Chilton bp. St. Paul Canterbury, Kent 15 Jan 1586/7
2. Jane Chilton bpt. St. Paul 8 June 1589. n. f. r.
3. Joel Chilton bur. St. Martin Canterbury 2 Nov 1593
4. Mary Childton bur. St. Martin 23 Nov 1593
5. Elizabeth bpt. St. Martin 14 July 1594
6. James Childton bpt. St. Martin 22 Aug 1596; died by 11 Sep 1603
7. Ingle Chilton bpt. St. Paul 29 April 1599
8. Christian Chilton (dau.) bpt. St. Peter Sandwich, Kent, 26 July 1601; n.f.r.
9. James Chilton bpt. St. Peter 11 Sep 1603 n.f.r.
10. Mary Chilton bpt. St Peter Sandwich, 30 May 1607; m. John Winslow.

Mayflower, First Sickness and Cole's Hill Burial Ground

Sources

1. ↑ No record of his birth or baptism is known, but he gave his age as 63 in a deposition at Leiden in April 1619.
2. ↑ Will of Lyonel Chilton, in Mayflower Descendant, 62 (2013), p. 72-77
3. ↑ Wardlaw, John: "The Likely Given Name of James Chilton's Mother", in Mayflower Descendant, 62 (2013), p. 69-71
4. ↑ Cowper, Joseph Meadows. Roll of Freeman of the City of Canterbury, Page 315. "Freeman by Gift: James Chylton, tailor, 1583."
5. ↑ Morton, Nathaniel. New England's memorial. (Boston: Congregational board of publication, 1855) Originally published 1669.p. 26 Note: The original compact is gone. Morton furnished the earliest known list 1669 facsimile
6. ↑ Prince says James died on 8th December, citing a lost writing of Bradford. Other dates are given by tertiary sources.
7. ↑ Main text of monument with line breaks as found and capitalization changed for readability. A hard-to-read inscription on the bottom mentions the Massachusetts Historical Commission:

   1620 [Engraving of the Mayflower] 1920

   In memory of the five Mayflower passengers

   who died at sea and while the ship

   lay in Cape Cod Harbour

   William Butten Nov. 16TH 1620

   Edward Thomson Dec. 14TH 1620

   Jasper More Dec. 16TH 1620

   Dorothy Bradford Dec. 17TH 1620

   James Chilton Dec. 18TH 1620

   James Chilton was the only

   signer of the Mayflower Compact

   who died at Cape Cod

8. ↑ Anderson, Robert Charles. The Pilgrim Migration: Immigrants to Plymouth Colony 1620-1633. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004). p. 104

See also:

• "Plymouth Colony, Its History and People 1620-1691 by Eugene Aubrey Stratten, Ancestry Publishing, SLC, UT p 409. Quotes Gov. Wm Bradford:

  James Chilton and his wife also dyed in the first infection. But their daughter Mary is still living, and hath 9 children; and one daughter is married, and hath a child; so their increase is 10.

• The English Ancestry and Homes of the Pilgrim Fathers, Charles Edward Banks, Genealogical Publishing Co., Balt., 1989, p45,

  He is believed to be identical with James Chylton, citizen and tailor of Canterbury in 1583. The following entries from the church register of St. Paul, Canterbury, record the baptisms of his children, viz.: Isabella, 15 January, 1586; in 1615 she married Roger Chandler in Leyden, later of Duxbury (1632); Jane, 8 June, 1589; "Ingle" 1599. He removed to the parish of St. Martin, same city, and had the following children baptized: Elizabeth, 14 July, 1594; and James, 22 August, 1596. Two other children - Mary and Joel - died in 1593 there. The following entries from St. Peter's, Sandwich, undoubtedly refer to the same James (the parish where several of the Pilgrims lived prior to removal to Leyden) viz: Christian, 26 July, 1600; James, 11 September, 1602; Mary (famous for her historic leap making her the first to land on Plymouth Rock) was probably born about 1608 in another parish. ... James Chilton died shortly after the "Landing." "The name Chilton occurs in the Leyden records but the items relate to Isaac Chilton, a looking-glass maker, said to be from France. He may have been a son of James. Angela Chilton married Robert Nelson in 1622 at Leyden, probably the "Ingle" above named.

• Pioneers of Massachusetts, Pope, from DAR:

  James came in the Mayflower; signed the Compact. Res. at Plymouth. Brought with him his wife Mary (?) who d. within a few months after arrival. He brought dau. Mary, who m. John Winslow. Another dau. came over afterward, that was married. He d. Dec 6, 1620.

• Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, Vol. 15 Chilton/More 1997 p. 3
• Wikipedia: James_Chilton
• Wikipedia: List_of_Mayflower_passengers_who_died_at_sea_November/December_1620
• James Chilton on MayflowerHistory.com
• Family Search
• Joiner, Rev. Darrell and Sallyann (email removed): Cary Family History
• “James Chilton” at Mayflower.AmericanAncestors.org website. (NEHGS, accessed 6/15/2019, free).
• Bradford, William. History of Plymouth Plantation (Massachusetts Historical Society, 1856) p. 449"3 [persons] James Chilton, and his wife, and Mary, their dougter. They had an other doughter, yt was maried, came afterward." pp 453, 454 "James Chilton and his wife also dyed in the first infection. But their daughter Mary is still living, and hath 9. children; and one daughter is maried, & hath a child; so their increase is 10."
• Bradford, William, 1590-1657. Of Plimoth Plantation: manuscript, 1630-1650. State Library of Massachusetts "List of Mayflower Passengers." In Bradford's Hand.
• Shaw, H. K.; "Families of the Pilgrims," Mass. Society of Mayflower Descendants, Boston: 1956.