The Ship Master was named Robert Batten. One voyage in May of 1638 carried 61 settlers from Southampton, England, leaving before 12 May 1638 in which they were “some Dayes gone to sea”, to "Newengland", all one word. The ship's passenger destinations included: Newbury, Weymouth, Wells, Maine, Newport, Salisbury, and Charlestown. No verified details of this merchant ship, its age or fate is known other than "Beuis of Hampton of CL. Tonnes". This translates to “Bevis of Hampton, 150 tons.” The was actually a footnote reference symbol in the form of a Latin cross. The “burthen” or weight bearing capacity of cargo of the Bevis was 150 tons. This does not mean the ship weighed only 150 tons because it more likely weighed three times or more of its cargo capacity. Many of the three masted merchant ships traveling across the Atlantic Ocean about this same time period were in the 450 to 650 ton range. by Dr. Ian Friel, FSA. Dated 29 September 2009, Museum of London, courtesy of Gresham College. The cargo or “goods” were certified on 12 May 1638. Yet the ship had been “some Dayes gone to sea” by 2 May 1638. The shippers of the goods were Richard Dumer & Co. Henry Byles & Co. The exact date of departure is often not known since departures often coincided with the daylight outgoing or “ebb” tide. This being anywhere from a few hours to more than a day after clearance was given to leave port. Some have cited 16 May 1638 and 12 May 1638) as the departure date, but without proof. Again, they had been “some Dayes gone to sea” by 2 May 1638. “They landed probably at Boston in June or July 1638.” She completed the voyage to the Americas because her passengers arrived and took up residence there. Her fate thereafter is unknown.
Passengers
The 61 documented Bevis passengers enumerated or attested to on 2 May 1638 were mostly Puritans, leaving England for the New World driven by the quest for religious freedom at a time when England was moving toward ardent Catholicism. Scholar David B. Gracy, II, notes that some in the hierarchy of the King of England noticed the Bevis was almost entirely composed of Puritans and agents of the Kingdom sought to prevent the ship from setting sail in May 1638, but alas failed to prevent the sailing. A listing of passengers from the passenger image include; Ffrey John of Basing, Whelwrite, wife and 3 children Austin Richard of Bishopstocke 40, Taylor, his wife and 2 children Knight Robert 37, Carpenter Servant to R. Austin Batt Christopher of Sarcum, 37, Tanner Batt Anna 32, Chirstopher's wife Batt Dorothis Batt 20, Chirstopher's sister Batt children, 5 under 10 years Good Thomas 24, Batt Servant Blackston Eliza 22, Batt Servant Pond Rebecca,18, Batt Servant Carpenter William of Horwell /Wherwell 62, carpenter Carpenter William Jr. of Horwell 33, carpenter Carpenter Abigael 32 Carpenter children, 4 10 or under Banshott Tho 14, Carpenter servant Littlefield Annis 38 Littlefield children, 6 Knight John, carpenter and Littlefield servant Durdal Hough, Littlefield servant Byley Henery of Saru 26, tanner Byley Mary 22 Reeves Tho, Byley servant Byley John 20, Byley servant Dumr Richard of New England 40 Dumr Alice 35 Dumr Tho 19 Dumr Joane 19 Dumr Jane 10 Dumr Steephen, husbandman Dumr Dorothie 6 Dumr Richard 4 Dumr Tho 2 Hutchinson John 30, carpenter, servant Alcocke Francis 26, servant Mott Adam 19, Taylor, servant Wackefeild Will. 22, servant Parker Nathaunel 20, servant of London Backer Poore Samuel 18, servant Poore Da'yell 14, servant Poore Alce 20, servant Bayley Richard 15, servant Wackefeild Anna 20, Servant
Notable passengers and comments on them
, whose descendants of the same surname name would include Moses Austin, Stephen F. Austin, and Emily Austin Perry who collectively are credited with settling the State of Texas. William Carpenter from Shalbourne whose Rehoboth Carpenter family descendants included many politicians, generals, admirals and an astronaut. Richard Dummer, who had previously emigrated in 1632 as an organizer of and investor in the failed Plough Company. Dummer had returned to Hampshire, England, about 1637 and, as a Bevis passenger, was bringing relatives back to New England with him. The following excerpt is from Eugene Cole Zubrinsky's online sketch of "William2 Carpenter of Rehoboth" which indicates an indirect connection between Dummer and the Carpenters: "The Bevis passenger list describes William2 and his father as “of Horwell,” that is, Whorwell, in Horwell Hundred, Hampshire, about 15 miles south-south-east of Shalbourne. Wherwell, which had a tradition of religious dissent—at least two of its vicars, Stephen Bachiler and his probable brother-in-law John Bate, were nonconformists—lies on a straight line from Shalbourne to the Bevis’s port of departure, at Southampton. It is clear from the chronology of Carpenter records at Shalbourne that the family was at Wherwell for a few months at most. It is indeed possible that they paused there only long enough to obtain from sympathetic authorities the certificates of conformity that customs officials would require for the Carpenters to leave England and from which the residence recorded for them on the passenger list was probably copied."
