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Hester Mahieu,[1] aka Hester Le Mahieu, Esther de Mahieu,[2] Esther sa femme, de Norwich,[3][4][1] Hester Mayhieu.[5]
Hester Mahieu was the daughter of Jacques Mahieu and Jenne Unknown, French Walloon refugees who fled to Canterbury, England where Hester was born about 1584. Hester married Francis Cooke at Leiden, Netherlands 20 Jul 1603.[6][7] Although Hester Mahieu is listed as "of Canterbury," she was actually Walloon, French-speaking Belgian, and not English. Many Walloons lived in Canterbury, engaged in the textile trades.[1]
When in Leiden from 1603 until the arrival of the Pilgrims, Francis and Hester were members of the French Walloon Church. However, in 1606, Francis and his wife left for a trip to Norwich, and they returned in 1607, to have their son baptized in the Church, and in 1608, they rejoined communion with the Walloon Church in Leiden. Sometime between 1611 and 1618, the Cookes began communion with the Pilgrims' Separatist church in Leiden. Hester died after 8 Jun 1666, in Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts.[8]
Hester Mahieu and Francis Cooke were members of the Leiden Walloon Church, a congregation of French-speaking Belgian people whose beliefs were very similar to those of the English Separatists.[1]
Hester Mahieu was admitted to the church 1 June 1603 as a member of the French Reformed Church (known as the Walloon Church) of Leyden. Her name in this list reads "Esther de Mahieu." The baptism of John Cooke, Francis and Hester Mahieu Cooke's firstborn son, is also in the Walloon Church records.[9][1]
"On New Year's Day, 1608, among those admitted to communion by letter of transfer from another Walloon congregation were `Francois Cooke et Esther sa femme, de Norwich'...This entry informs us that before 1608, the Cooke-Mahieu couple had lived in Norwich among the Walloons there. They evidently left for Norwich on 8 August 1606, as a note in the Walloon Library of Leiden mentions their departure on that date with letters of transfer...Both the departure with attestation and the return to communion in Leiden with a similar letter indicate that Francois Cooke, as well as Hester his wife, was a member of the Leiden Walloon congregation. The Cookes evidently returned briefly to Leiden, between the quarterly dates of communion, which they missed, in order to have their son Jean baptized within the Leiden Walloon congregation with family as godparents to raise him in case he became orphaned."[10][4][1]
Note: Hester Mahieu Cooke's name appears in 1646 in a description of the relationship among the various Protestant churches of Europe : "And for the French churches, that we held and do hold communion with them, take notice of our practice at Leyden, viz. that one Samuel Terry was received from the French church there into communion with us. Also the wife of Francis Cooke, being a Walloon, holds communion with the church at Plymouth, as she came from the French, to this day, by virtue of communion of churches."[11][1]
Francis Cooke and Hester le Mahieu's marriage occurred in Leiden, Netherlands six years before the Pilgrim church made its move there, so Francis was living there long before their arrival and must have met up with and joined them afterwards.[6]
In Leiden, about 20 Jul 1603, as Franchoys Couck, he married Hester le Mahieu, the daughter of Protestant refugees from the Walloon Flanders area.[5]
"Couk, Franchoys of England, Wool-comber, acc[ompanied] by Phillipe de Veau and Raphael Roelandt his acq[aintance]. betr[othed]. 30 June 1603 to Hester Mahieu of Canterbury in England, acc[ompanied]. by Jenne Mahieu her mother and Jenne mahieu her sister ..." [12] Marriage banns are dated 4 Jul 1603 at Leiden, Netherlands.[13] The wedding takes place 20 Jul 1603.[6] Although Hester Mahieu is listed as "of Canterbury," she was actually Walloon, French-speaking Belgian, and not English. Many Walloons lived in Canterbury, engaged in the textile trades.[1]
The Mahieus, from Lille, had resided in Canterbury, then London, since the 1570s before moving to Leiden in 1590. Hester le Mahieu's sister was Marie le Mahieu, wife of Jan Lano, another Protestant refugee in Canterbury and then Leiden, whose son, Philippe de Lannoy (anglicized to 'Delano') migrated on the Fortune to join his uncle Francis Cooke and his cousin Robert at Plymouth colony in 1621, having been left behind with twenty others when the Mayflower's sailing mate, the Speedwell, foundered and returned to port in England leaving the Mayflower to sail alone. Philippe is the progenitor of the branch of the Delano family living in America, from which Franklin Delano Roosevelt descends.
While in Leiden, Francis and Hester were members of the Walloon church. In 1606, they left Leiden briefly for Norwich, England, where they joined another Walloon church, returning to Leiden in 1607, possibly for religious reasons. Between 1611 and 1618, the Cookes were members of the Pilgrim Separatist congregation in Leiden.[14] The Pilgrim church was not established in Leiden until 1609, so Francis was living there long before their arrival and must have met up with and joined them afterwards.
"On New Year's Day, 1608, among those admitted to communion by letter of transfer from another Walloon congregation were `Francois Cooke et Esther sa femme, de Norwich' ... This entry informs us that before 1608, the Cooke-Mahieu couple had lived in Norwich among the Walloons there. They evidently left for Norwich on 8 August 1606, as a note in the Walloon Library of Leiden mentions their departure on that date with letters of transfer.[15][4][1]
Life in England: Francis Cooke and his family spent some time in Norwich, Norfolk between 1606 and 1608, but the purpose is unknown. Hester Cooke identified herself as being from Canterbury in her betrothal registration.[16]
Life in Holland: Francis Cooke was living in Leiden by April 1603, when he worked there as a woolcomber. His wife’s family were Walloons, originally from the town of Lille in Flanders, coming to Leiden from London in 1590. Hester joined the Walloon church just before her betrothal, but there is no record of Francis joining. He did appear in the records as witness to a baptism and a betrothal. Three of their children are listed in the church records between 1607–1611, but none thereafter and they may have joined the English Separatist church at that time.[17]
Hester (Mayhieu) Cooke and the couple's two other children, Jane and Jacob, arrived on the ship "Anne" in 1623.[18][6][1]
The Ann(e) and the Little James arrived together in July (10), 1623 - "The Planters". "The vessels parted company at sea; the Ann arrived the latter part of June, and the Little James some week or ten days later; part of the number were the wives and children of persons already in the Colony." - "Hotten's Lists"
Francis Cooke married Hester le Mahieu, 20 Jul 1603, Leiden.[19][6]
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Marriage June 1603 [20][21] Bruidegom Franchoys Couck (wolkammer) geboren te Engelant Bruid Hester Mahieu geboren te Cantelberch Engelant. Witnesses Groom-Getuigen bruidegom: Phillippe de Veau bekende - Raphael Roelandt bekende. Witnesses Bride-Getuigen bruid: Jenne Mahieu moeder - Jenne Mahieu zuster Translated: Franchoys Couck, of England, Wool-comber, acc[ompanied] by Phillipe de Veau and Raphael Roelandt his acq[aintance]. betr[othed]. 30 June 1603 to Hester Mahieu of Canterbury in England, acc[ompanied]. by Jenne Mahieu her mother and Jenne Mahieu her sister ... [20][21] |
Note: The date of Francis Cooke's marriage to Hester Mahieu in Leyden, Holland has often been printed incorrectly (e.g., 30 June 1603). However, an article in Mayflower Descendant 27:145-55 (New Light on Francis Cooke and His Wife Hester Mahieu and Their Son John) goes to great pains to give an estimated date and states the the previous published date was incorrect. Marriage intentions were entered July 4, 1603 and July 5, 1603 which means the three banns were proclaimed July 6, July 13 and July 20 (three successive Sundays); therefore, the marriage took place on or after July 20, 1603.
Scholars at the Leiden Municipal Archives discovered two other children of Francois and Hester besides their son Jean : Elizabeth, baptized on 26 December 1611, and a child, whose name is not given, buried in the Pieterskerk on 20 May 1608. The burial record imparts the further information that at that time Franchoys Couck lived on the Levendaal, a canal on the southeast side of Leiden.
The Cookes' other children, Jane, Hester, Jacob, and Mary, were presumably baptized in the Separatist congregaton of Leiden, for which no records are preserved, although it is possible that one or two might have been born in Norwich, or some may have been born in the colony of New Plymouth.[22][4][1] The birth order of the first three children is uncertain.
Note: Jacob COOKE was born about 1618 in Leyden,Holland. (590)(591) Rosser: by deposition, MD 2:45 He emigrated in 1623 from Plymouth, MA. Came with mother Hester in the Anne. He died Bet 11-18 Dec 1675 in Plymouth, MA. (592) Will of son, John, Rosser MB&D, Vol 1, p. 316 Two additonal children are Sarah (possible) born about 1671, and Rebecca (probably) living 11 December 1675. [Wood P. 55] Parents: Francis COOKE Mayflower and Hester LE MAHIEU.[25]
Hester died after June 8, 1666, in Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts.[26]
mtDNA results J1c2+G16153A[27] According to the Mayflower DNA project at Family tree DNA[28] the project currently[29] has three members who apparently are matrilineal (all female line) descendants of Esther/Hester. They all fall under the J1c2 mtDNA haplogroup. They also all have one additional mutation (HVR 1 G16153A) which may create a subclade of J1c2 sometime in the future.
The Mayflower departed Plymouth, England on September 6/16, 1620. The small, 100-foot ship had 102 passengers and a crew of about 30-40 in extremely cramped conditions. By the second month out, the ship was being buffeted by strong westerly gales, causing the ship‘s timbers to be badly shaken with caulking failing to keep out sea water, and with passengers, even in their berths, lying wet and ill. This, combined with a lack of proper rations and unsanitary conditions for several months, attributed to what would be fatal for many, especially the majority of women and children. On the way there were two deaths, a crew member and a passenger, but the worst was yet to come after arriving at their destination when, in the space of several months, almost half the passengers perished in cold, harsh, unfamiliar New England winter.
On November 9/19, 1620, after about 3 months at sea, including a month of delays in England, they spotted land, which was the Cape Cod Hook, now called Provincetown Harbor. And after several days of trying to get south to their planned destination of the Colony of Virginia, strong winter seas forced them to return to the harbor at Cape Cod hook, where they anchored on November 11/21. The Mayflower Compact was signed that day.
This week's featured connections are Redheads: Hester is 12 degrees from Catherine of Aragón, 14 degrees from Clara Bow, 22 degrees from Julia Gillard, 10 degrees from Nancy Hart, 11 degrees from Rutherford Hayes, 11 degrees from Rita Hayworth, 15 degrees from Leonard Kelly, 18 degrees from Rose Leslie, 15 degrees from Damian Lewis, 14 degrees from Maureen O'Hara, 22 degrees from Jopie Schaft and 28 degrees from Eirik Thorvaldsson on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.
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