William Mullins

Dorking's Pilgrim Father

William Mullins is one of Dorking's most famous sons. He was born about 1572, a respected and prosperous shoemaker. In 1612 he bought the large house, built in 1550, now numbers 58 to 61 West Street. Why he decided to sell up and join the proposed emigration to the New World of a group of English Separatists exiled in Holland, is a mystery. In 1620 he, his wife Alice, his younger children Priscilla and Joseph and his servant Robert Carter, boarded the Mayflower at Rotherhithe with other fare-paying colonists. The exiles, in the Speedwell, met them at Southampton, but this smaller ship proved unseaworthy and the Mayflower sailed alone from Plymouth on September 16th. They sighted Cape Cod on November 10th.

The Pilgrims called their settlement 'New Plymouth'. Many colonists, including William, Alice, Joseph and Robert, died in the spring of 1621. Priscilla survived to marry John Alden, and have ten children. Their many descendants maintain an interest in Dorking.

Pam Hunter
Dorking Local History Group

• Directory
• Town Centre Events
• Site map
• Contact