Brewster, William, 1567–1644, English separatist and Plymouth colonist. After studying briefly at Cambridge he became the chief member of the congregation at Scrooby that broke away, or separated, from the Anglican Church in 1606; the members, after their migration to Holland in 1608, were known as Pilgrims. On his press at Leiden, Brewster printed a number of religious books and tracts that were distributed throughout England. Returning to England in 1617, he helped make arrangements for the Pilgrim migration to America and in 1620 embarked on the Mayflower with his wife, two sons, and two indentured boys. Brewster, an elder of the church from the time he lived in Leiden, was the sole religious leader of the Plymouth Colony until 1629, but because he was not ordained, he confined his ministry to services of prayer and praise only. Although he held no lay offices, he was very influential, being one of the eight who undertook (1627) to discharge the debt to the colony's backers.

Bibliography

See biographies by A. Steele (1857, repr. 1970) and D. Brewster (1970).

Brewster, William

(born 1567, England—died April, 1644, Plymouth, Mass.) Anglo-American Puritan leader of Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts. He studied briefly at the University of Cambridge and became leader of a small Puritan congregation at Scrooby. Government persecution forced Brewster and his followers to emigrate to Holland in 1608, and he printed religious books in Leiden. In 1620 he joined the first group of Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower on the voyage to North America. When the colonists landed at Plymouth, Brewster became the senior elder of the colony, serving as its religious leader and as an adviser to Gov. William Bradford.

Brewster, William (1567–1644) Pilgrim leader; born in Nottinghamshire, England. Exposed to separatist religious ideas at Cambridge University, he became the leader of the Pilgrims and directed their escape to Holland in 1608. He sailed on the Mayflower and then served as a church elder and as adviser to Governor William Bradford.