English Ships

These Ships are reproductions of the Ships Susan Constant (100 tons), Godspeed (40 tons) and Discovery (20 tons). Including the crew and 104 men and boys that left from London England on Dec 20, 1606 and arrived in Jamestown on May 14,1607.

Many of the passengers were upper class people who had never worked in England and did not wish to work in the New World. This added to the difficulties of the settlers.

In 1607, Jamestown became the first permanent English speaking colony in America. Unlike the Pilgrims who established a settlement in Massachusetts 13 yrs later, the English did not come to Jamestown for religious reasons. They came as part of the Virginia Company expecting to find Silver and Gold and jewels which would permit them to return back to England rich but they found none.

Jamestown was chosen as a settlement site because it could be defended from Spain, Spain proved to not be the problem though, bad water, disease, and Indians took a terrible toll on the settlers.