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Many famous sea-going fraternity are associated with this ancient town. Captain Christopher Newport (1560-1617) was baptised in St Nicholas Church. He rose to become one of England's greatest sea-captains, which led the Virginia Company of London to commission him to take overall command of the three vessels and passengers bound for Virginia in 1606. Newport commanded the Susan Constant, Discovery and Godspeed. Harwich was also home to Christopher Jones who famously captained the Mayflower in 1620.
This village was a recruiting ground for the American colonies. A dozen descendants of Henry Sherman emigrated to New England between 1633 and 1640. The Sherman family left their significant mark on the United States. Through their family tree, they can claim a co-founder of Rhode Island, a signatory of the Declaration of Independence, General William Tecumseh Sherman connected with the Civil War, a Vice-president of the US and other distinguished luminaries.
Copford
John Haynes, who came from the tiny village of Copford, sailed to America in 1633. Taking up residence in New Town (renamed Cambridge in 1636), he was elected Governor. He married his second wife, Mabel Harlackenden, a member of an eminent Earls Colne family, who had migrated in 1635. They had three sons and two daughters. Haynes pioneered the colonisation of the Connecticut valley and in 1637,he became the father of the new colony of Connecticut. Haynes died at Hartford, USA, in 1654.
Messing
The ancestral line of the presidential Bush family can be traced back to the area around Messing and Feering from the 14th century. Reynold Bush is recorded in Messing's Baptismal Register at All Saint's Church. He emigrated to Massachusetts in the 1630s, possibly on board "The Lyon". The Bush family flourished in the New World, acquiring land and status. The church still stands, but the font where the Bush family were baptised, is now in at Wakes Colne Church near Colchester.
In 1632, a group of religious dissenters known as the Braintree Company sailed on "The Lyon". They settled initially at Mount Wollaston, later renamed Braintree in memory of their home-town. John Bridges, a Braintree resident, founded the school that developed into Harvard University. The ancestor of John Adams, second president, sailed on "The Lyon". John Adam's son John Quincy Adams became sixth president. Further information on "The Lyon" detailing passengers is at Braintree District Museum.
Great Saling
Andrewsfield hangar at Great Saling airfield was the unlikely stage setting for some of Hollywood's greatest performers during spring and summer of 1944. James Cagney. Danny Kaye, and many other stars including the Glen Miller Orchestra visited Essex. Bob Hope is remembered as performing on a stage created from large wooden packing cases. Andrewsfield is named in memory of Lieutenant General Frank Andrews, who died in 1943 in a flying accident in Iceland.
This famous airfield built at Easton Lodge at the home of Countess ‘Daisy' Warwick, friend of King Edward VII. More than 12,000 trees were uprooted from the estate's deer-park to make way for the American airfield, which opened in July 1943. This was the first base on General Eisenhower's April 11, 1944 itinerary during his USAAF tour. By September 1944 there were over 2,700 airmen and 68 aircraft at Great Dunmow.
High Laver
The three villages that comprise the Lavers lie to the north-west of Ongar. At High Laver lived the Masham family, who gave hospitality to Roger Williams, before he was forced to emigrate to Boston for his religious beliefs. The celebrated philosopher, John Locke, also lived at High Laver in the years preceding his death in 1704. Locke's theories were used within the Declaration of Independence and his ideas are embodied in the United States Constitution. A monument to Locke can be found in High Laver churchyard.
Springfield
William Pynchon was born in 1590 into a family of wealthy landowners. His colonial activities began in 1629 when he was one of the 18 patentees named in the Massachusetts Bay Company Charter. He and his family sailed to New England in 1630 with his friend John Winthrop. Pynchon famously founded the town of Springfield, Connecticut in 1636. He also established the first court in Massachusetts. The Pynchon-Winthrop association may have been through Sir Henry Mildmay, lord of the manor at Springfield.
As town lecturer and curate of St Mary's Church in Chelmsford - now Chelmsford Cathedral, Thomas Hooker was persecuted for his Puritan beliefs. His eloquent sermons attracted huge congregations to Lyons Hall, Bocking where he lived. William and Ozias Goodwin were inspired by Hooker to form The Braintree Company. The ship Lyon was charted to sail to Boston, Massachusetts arriving in 1632. Many settlements were named after the towns and villages they had left. Hooker who had fled to Holland, emigrated to America in 1633, and founded the town of Hartford in Connecticut. Chelmsford Cathedral bears a plaque commemorating the great man.
Once known as "the jewel on the East Coast", imbued with healing powers linked to its densely-salted estuaries, Maldon has been settled since the Bronze Age. The Saxon King Edward the Elder built a fort at the head of the estuary and at the Battle of Maldon in 991, that great Anglo-Saxon Essex leader, Brithnoth lost his life defending the town against marauding Vikings. Within All Saints' Church is the commemorative Washington window dedicated to Lawrence Washington, great-great-grandfather to America's first president, who is buried there. The window was presented in 1928 by citizens of Malden, Massachusetts.
Purleigh
America's first president, George Washington has ancestral roots at Purleigh. His great-great-grandfather - Reverend Lawrence Washington from 1633 to 1643, was described as "a malignant royalist who should be removed from the ministry." His parishioners, however, declared him to be "a very worthy and pious man". In his honour, the flint tower of the church was repaired through the generosity of US citizens. Unhappy with their father's treatment, Washington's sons John and Lawrence left England to seek a fresh start in the New World.
Among the 102 passengers who boarded The Mayflower at Plymouth on 6 September 1620 was Christopher Martin, the ship's provisioner. Previously serving as churchwarden at Great Burstead's St Mary Magdalene's Church, he and Marie Prower married there in 1607. He is believed to have owned the Chantry House at 61 High Street, Billericay, where the emigrants prayed on the evening before the start of their epic journey on the Mayflower. Billerica in Massachusetts was established in 1655 and is now twinned with Billericay, Essex.
President Eisenhower initiated the Sister City Programme in the USA during WWII. From this, grew Sister Cities linking US communities with towns throughout the world. Their objective is to learn about each other's culture, develop meaningful and lasting relationships and exchange ideas on a long-term basis. Brentwood became linked in March 1985 with Brentwood, Tennessee, and enjoys student exchanges to the mutual benefit of both American and English communities.
Stondon Massey
England's famous composer, William Byrd, lived at Stondon Place from 1593 until his death in 1623. He and his contemporary, Thomas Tallis, were elected Gentlemen of the Chapel Royal to Queen Elizabeth. Nathaniel Ward was Rector of Stondon from 1623 to 1633. He had been offered the position of pastor with the Massachusetts Bay Company, but declined. Deprived of his living for his non-conformity, Ward migrated to Ipswich, New England in 1634. With John Winthrop, he helped draft the ‘1641 Code of Laws' for Massachusetts.
Chigwell
William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, born in 1644, lived at Wanstead, an Essex village. He was educated at Chigwell School, whose original buildings circa 1629 are still in use. Penn founded Pennsylvania in 1681 as a place where his philosophy of tolerance, equality and understanding of fellow men could be practised. These concepts were built into the American Constitution drafted in 1787 in Philadelphia - the city Penn created. William Penn is revered in Philadelphia where his magnificent statue dominates the City Hall skyline.
