Individual Details
Stephen HOPKINS
(Apr 1581 - 7 Jul 1644)
Mr. Stephen Hopkins, gentleman of London, came in the Mayflower; signed the compact; settled at Plymouth. Freeman and Assistant 1632-3.
Stephen Hopkins brought with him on the Mayflower his wife Elizabeth, children Giles and Constance by his first marriage, and Damaris by his second marriage. A son, Oceanus, was born while the Mayflower was at sea.
Stephen participated in the early exploring missions and was an "ambassador" along with Myles Standish for early Indian relations. Stephen Hopkins i s mentioned in a letter written by William Bradford and Isaac Allerton on 8 September 1623, which was found in uncalendered papers at the Public Records Office in London. The letter was presented as evidence for the defence in the 1624 court case Stevens and Fell vs. the Little James. Another little-known reference to Stephen Hopkins, which also aludes to his two servants (Edward Doty and Edward Leister), is found in the Minutes for the Council of New England on 5 May 1623. In 1636, Hopkins was fined for the battery of John Tisdale, in 1637 he was found guilty of allowing men to drink on a Sunday at his house, and in 1638 he was fined for not dealing fairly with an apprentice girl, Dorothy Temple. He was also charged with several other minor crimes, including selling glass at too high a price, selling illegal intoxicants, and allowing men to get drunk at his house. However, this in no way indicated he was disloyal to the Colony -- in fact he was Assistant Governor from 1633 until 1636, and he volunteered to fight in the Pequot War of 1637.Less
Caleb Johnson, "The True Origin of Stephen Hopkins of the MAYFLOWER, With Evidence of His Earlier Presence in Virginia"; THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST, vol 73, No 3, July 1998; pp 161-171; copy in possession of Steven B. Watrous.
This source states in part, the following: "Now it is time to set the record straight and present documented evidence that Stephen Hopkins was not from Wortley, Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, but instead from Hursley, Hampshire, England. The parish registers of Hursley, searched and photocopied by Leslie Mahler at my request, contain the following baptismal entries, literally transcribed from the original Latin with my own translation appearing below [see page 163]." ... "Stephen and Mary Hopkins of Hursley, Hampshire, were the parents of Elizabeth, Constance, and Giles. It should also be noted that both Constance and Giles named their first daughter Mary [page 164]. At my request, the Hampshire Record Office [in Winchester] undertook a search for Hopkins probate records, and uncovered only one at Hursley -- an administration on the estate of Mary Hopkins in 1613. Her estate inventory was dated 10 May 1613, and administration was granted on 12 May 1613...during the minority of Constance, Elize(beth) et Egidij (in that order) [Egidius is the Latin form of the English name Giles] [see page 164]" ... "There are several important points to made about this inventory [of her estate administration in 1613]...the estate inventory calls Mary Hopkins a widow, although her burial record calls her 'wife', not widow. It would have been very unusual for an administration to have been granted on the estate of a woman whose husband was living, and Stephen was not dead, as he came on the Mayflower in 1620 with his children Constance and Giles. The solution to this odd puzzle is found in the facts that Stephen and Mary Hopkins stopped having children in 1608, and that there was a Stephen Hopkins aboard the SEA VENTURE which left for Virginia in 1609. If Mary's husband was in Virginia in 1613 and his condition was unknown, the court or the parish might well have found it expedient to assume he was dead in order make property available for his children's support. And that assumption was not an unlikely one: Mortality rates at Jamestown were extremely high [see page 165]."
Stephen Hopkins brought with him on the Mayflower his wife Elizabeth, children Giles and Constance by his first marriage, and Damaris by his second marriage. A son, Oceanus, was born while the Mayflower was at sea.
Stephen participated in the early exploring missions and was an "ambassador" along with Myles Standish for early Indian relations. Stephen Hopkins i s mentioned in a letter written by William Bradford and Isaac Allerton on 8 September 1623, which was found in uncalendered papers at the Public Records Office in London. The letter was presented as evidence for the defence in the 1624 court case Stevens and Fell vs. the Little James. Another little-known reference to Stephen Hopkins, which also aludes to his two servants (Edward Doty and Edward Leister), is found in the Minutes for the Council of New England on 5 May 1623. In 1636, Hopkins was fined for the battery of John Tisdale, in 1637 he was found guilty of allowing men to drink on a Sunday at his house, and in 1638 he was fined for not dealing fairly with an apprentice girl, Dorothy Temple. He was also charged with several other minor crimes, including selling glass at too high a price, selling illegal intoxicants, and allowing men to get drunk at his house. However, this in no way indicated he was disloyal to the Colony -- in fact he was Assistant Governor from 1633 until 1636, and he volunteered to fight in the Pequot War of 1637.Less
Caleb Johnson, "The True Origin of Stephen Hopkins of the MAYFLOWER, With Evidence of His Earlier Presence in Virginia"; THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST, vol 73, No 3, July 1998; pp 161-171; copy in possession of Steven B. Watrous.
This source states in part, the following: "Now it is time to set the record straight and present documented evidence that Stephen Hopkins was not from Wortley, Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, but instead from Hursley, Hampshire, England. The parish registers of Hursley, searched and photocopied by Leslie Mahler at my request, contain the following baptismal entries, literally transcribed from the original Latin with my own translation appearing below [see page 163]." ... "Stephen and Mary Hopkins of Hursley, Hampshire, were the parents of Elizabeth, Constance, and Giles. It should also be noted that both Constance and Giles named their first daughter Mary [page 164]. At my request, the Hampshire Record Office [in Winchester] undertook a search for Hopkins probate records, and uncovered only one at Hursley -- an administration on the estate of Mary Hopkins in 1613. Her estate inventory was dated 10 May 1613, and administration was granted on 12 May 1613...during the minority of Constance, Elize(beth) et Egidij (in that order) [Egidius is the Latin form of the English name Giles] [see page 164]" ... "There are several important points to made about this inventory [of her estate administration in 1613]...the estate inventory calls Mary Hopkins a widow, although her burial record calls her 'wife', not widow. It would have been very unusual for an administration to have been granted on the estate of a woman whose husband was living, and Stephen was not dead, as he came on the Mayflower in 1620 with his children Constance and Giles. The solution to this odd puzzle is found in the facts that Stephen and Mary Hopkins stopped having children in 1608, and that there was a Stephen Hopkins aboard the SEA VENTURE which left for Virginia in 1609. If Mary's husband was in Virginia in 1613 and his condition was unknown, the court or the parish might well have found it expedient to assume he was dead in order make property available for his children's support. And that assumption was not an unlikely one: Mortality rates at Jamestown were extremely high [see page 165]."
Events
| Birth | Apr 1581 | Upper Clatford, Hampshire, England | |||
| Christen | 30 Apr 1581 | Upper Clatford, Hampshire, England | |||
| Marriage | 9 May 1599 | London, London, England - Mary KENT |  | ||
| Religion | 1600 | a pilgrim | |||
| Occupation | Ca 1605 | Merchant/Shopkeeper - Hursley, Hampshire, England | |||
| Emigration | 1609 | England to British America but was shipwrecked on Bermuda while on way to Jamestown | | ||
| Residence | 1610 - 13 | Jamestown, Virginia | | ||
| Emigration | Dec 1620 | England | | ||
| Freeman | 1633 | Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, British America | |||
| Military | 1637 | | |||
| Will | 6 Jun 1644 | Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, British America | |||
| Death | 7 Jul 1644 | Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, British America | |||
| Probate | 20 Aug 1644 | Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, British America |
Families
| Spouse | Mary KENT (1580 - 1613) |
| Child | Constance HOPKINS ( - ) |
| Child | Giles HOPKINS (1608 - 1690) |
| Child | Elizabeth HOPKINS (1604 - 1620) |
| Father | John Nicholas HOPKINS (1548 - 1593) |
| Mother | Elizabeth WILLIAMES (1552 - ) |