Birth: Thomas Southworth was born about 1617.
Death: He died on December 8, 1669 in Plymouth.
Ship: Unknown, 1628
Life in England: In August 1620, Robert Cushman wrote a
letter to Edward Southworth, addressing it to Heneage House in London.
It is unclear whether Edward Southworth died there or returned to
Leiden.
Life in Holland: Thomas Southworth was the son of Edward
and Alice (Carpenter) Southworth, who married in Leiden on May 28, 1613.
His father was a say worker [weaver] there.The family attempted to
emigrate to New England in 1620, but apparently abandoned the voyage at
London.
Life in New England: Alice Southworth emigrated to
Plymouth Colony in 1623, leaving her two sons behind, either in England
or Leiden. She married Governor William Bradford as his second wife that
same year.Thomas Southworth became a freeman in Plymouth on March 7,
1642/3. He held many influential and high-ranking positions in the
Plymouth Colony government for a number of years, including commissioner
to the United Colonies, governor’s assistant, deputy to the Plymouth
Court, and selectman. Southworth was a lieutenant for the Plymouth
troops on March 7, 1647/8, and May 3, 1653, and captain of the military
company of Plymouth on August 2, 1659, and June 4, 1661.
Family: Thomas Southworth married Elizabeth Reyner on
September 1, 1641, in Plymouth and had one daughter. She died after June
3, 1679.
Children of Thomas and Elizabeth Southworth:
- Elizabeth was born about 1644 She married Joseph Howland on December
7, 1664, in Plymouth and had nine children.He died in Plymouth in
January 1703/4. She died in March 1717 in Plymouth.