Mayflower Passenger, Edward Fuller

Edward Fuller (bapt. 4 September 1575, Redenhall, Norfolk, England; died 1620/21, Plimoth Colony)

400 years ago, my 10th great-grandfather, Edward Fuller, a Separatist, boarded the Mayflower in Leiden, Holland (aka The Netherlands). With his wife, son, his brother and his family, among 102 passengers (about half of them Separatists or Puritans), they made the journey across the Atlantic Ocean to the tip of Cape Cod near Provincetown in mid-November 1620.

On December 16, 1620 they came to the abandoned Wampanoag village of Patuxet, which had been called “Plimoth” on earlier maps. They arrived at the onset of a harsh New England winter and Edward Fuller and his wife (whose name is not known), died. His son Samuel survived as did his brother Samuel and his family.

Edward Fuller did not make it to that first “Thanksgiving” in the fall of 1621, but Edward Fuller did sign the Mayflower Compact thereby leaving a legacy to his son, Samuel and another son, Matthew that had remained in England (and came later). Of the 102 passengers on the Mayflower, genealogists and historians can only trace descendants back to just 26 families. Edward Fuller and his family is one of them. Here is a chart of my decent from the Mayflower passenger Edward Fuller (1575-1620/21).

What do we know about Edward Fuller? He was baptized in Redenhall Parish, Norfolk on 4 September 1575, the son of Robert Fuller and Sara Dunkhorn [Parish Register, Redenhall with Harleston & Wortwell, Norfolk, England].

Edward Fuller was named in the will of his father, Robert Fuller, which was dated 19 May 1613 and proved 31 May 1614. He gives Edward:

“Item I give unto Edward my sonne all that my tenemt sometyme Assies in Harlston aforesaid wth all the howses buildings yards gardens orchards & all other th appntenncs & also all such evidences & writings as to the said tenemt belongeth excepte the said copie hould orchard To have & to hould the said tenemt & all the other the pmisses wth th appntenncs(excepte before excepted) unto the said Edward his heires & asss for evr”[Church of England, Archdeaconry of Norfolk, Family Search (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/291384), Liber 41, p.82, images 286-289. Will of Robert Fuller [FHL 167098]].

 

Map of location of Redenhall, Norfolk Co.

St. Mary's Church in Redenhall where Edward Fuller was baptized.

 

 

 

 

Plaque in St. Mary's Church, Redenhall commemorating the Pilgrim brothers, Edward and Samuel Fuller
 

 

Edward Fuller was married (perhaps by 1605) by the time he came to Leiden to join other Separatists. His wife’s name is not known and was not recorded by William Bradford when they arrived in Plymouth Colony. He likely came to Leiden after his father’s death in 1614. His brother, Samuel was already there having arrived in 1611 and became a leading member of the congregation established by the Separatist leader, John Robinson and may have belonged to the separatist congregation before leaving England. Although no documentation exits, it is likely that Edward was also a member of this congregation and followed his brother. Edward and his wife and son are documented as passengers on the Mayflower.

 

 William Bradford, the governor of the colony, writing many years later, noted that Edward Fuller and his wife died in that first winter, but their son, Samuel had survived and was taken in by Edward’s brother, Samuel.

 

 Before that first winter, on 11 November 1620, Edward Fuller along with other men of the religious community signed the Mayflower Compact, the first framework of government written and enacted in the colonies that would later become the United States. 

                                             Edward Fuller signature, 2nd column, 2nd from bottom