How many passengers really survived the Mayflower voyage ? I’ve seen anywhere from 47 to 53. Does anyone really know? Why the discrepancies ?
The History Channel says 53 passengers and half the crew survived the winter they spent on the ship once they landed, with only 5 of the 17 women making it . This doesn’t tell us how many survived the initial voyage, though.
Thanks Czarcasm. I would have expected a final tally on a manifest after coming ashore at Provincetown Harbor, Cape Cod.
Depends what you mean by voyage or “coming ashore”?
As I understand, they arrived very late in the season and did not have time to build houses, so they had finished the voyage but spent the winter on the ship. I presume they’d be shuttling to the shore during the winter, I suppose there were no suitable harbours with docks built during that time.
That would explain the inconsistency in ‘surviving passenger’ numbers. Some would have been born and died on board that winter I presume. Some numbers perhaps reflect the actual number who funally came ashore as soon as the weather warmed up. I don’t know.
I believe they came ashore before that time-they just opted to live aboard the ship that winter thinking they had a better chance at survival than if they had tried to establish a colony during those rough months.
Thanks Czarcasm. Any explanation as to why the survival numbers are so different?
I thought the difference in numbers was also the people [Puritains] vs the indentured servants that were not of the faith … frequently they got left out of things because they simply were not important.
They left Plymouth on 16th September 1620, with 20 to 30 crew and 102 passengers on board. The crew lived on the upper decks and the passengers lived in the cargo hold.