Book Review – In Search of Mayflower Pilgrim William White

Sue Allan has recently come out with the latest addition to her prolific series of books on the Mayflower Pilgrims. This time it is about William White. He is not one of the most famous of the Pilgrims, scarcely surprising considering he died the first winter. But he was the father of Pereguine White, the first baby born to the Pilgrims in the New World. and he has many descendants alive today.

The book is not your typical biography – too little is known about White’s life to fill out an entire volume. Instead, Allan chronicles the research process by which she, and fellow researchers, discovered the records of White’s English origins. This allows her to move beyond the bare facts of his life, and open up the interesting context of the town where he grew up, his ancestors, and his family and acquaintances. (She is even able to trace a route he likely walked while growing up).

For years, White’s origins remained a debated mystery because of his very common name. But she has proved, at least to my satisfaction, that White was not from Wisbech, but that he was in a family with deep connections in the broader Separatist movement. To give one example, most relevant to my research, White was the uncle of Dorothy May, the first wife of William Bradford.

Those who have been keeping up with cutting edge research into the Pilgrims will find plenty of references to new discoveries, including in Allan’s other books. But I found that this, instead of being simply repeating material, was very helpful in bringing to light the many connections between different Separatists and Pilgrims. A large segment of those who boarded the Mayflower were not only bound together by a church covenant, but by bonds of kinship and association that in some instances stretched back generations.

All in all, I found this to be a compelling little book, and I particularly recommend it to avid Pilgrim buffs and descendants of William White.

You can purchase In Search of Mayflower Pilgrim William White of Wisbech here.
Thanks to Sue Allan for providing me with a copy of her book to write this review.