William MULLINS, Sr

   Another name for William was MULLENS.

   Ancestral File Number: PZZV-J2. User ID: 4702.

   General Notes:

Pilgrim, Died first winter 1620-21 Plymouth.

BOOK
"Saints and Strangers- Being the Lives of the Pilgrim Fathers and their Families with their Friends and Foes and an Account of their Posthumous Wanderings in Limbo, Their Final Resurrection and Rise to Glory and the Strange Pilgrimages of Plymouth Rock" George F Willison, Reynal & Hitchcock NY 1945:
p442: "Mullins, Master William (c1580-1621)- shopkeeper of Dorking Surrey England, Mar Mullins, Mrs Alice (- 1621) Probably Mullins' 2nd or 3rd wife, Child Priscilla (c1602-1685) Mar John Alden (see Hired Hands below) c 1622, 9 children,
Brother Joseph (c 1614-1621).

INTERNET
Mayflower Web Pages, Caleb Johnson, 1998
http://members.aol.com/calebj/passenger.html
William Mullins:
BORN: c1572, probably Dorking, Surrey, England, possibly son of John Mullins and Joane Bridger
DIED: 21 February 1620/1, Plymouth
MARRIED: Alice (---)
CHILDREN:
Name- Birth; Death; Marriage
William- probably Dorking, Surrey, England; 12 February 1672, Braintree, MA; (1). name unknown (2). Ann (---) Bell
Sarah- probably Dorking, Surrey, England; after 1621; Mr. Blunden, before 1621
Priscilla- probably Dorking, Surrey, England; between 1650 and 1687; John Alden, c1623, Plymouth
Joseph- probably Dorking, Surrey, England; cir. April 1621; unmarried
ANCESTRAL SUMMARY:
William Mullins does not have any Molyneaux ancestors--one of the most common (and most absurd when you examine the "evidence") claims in all of Mayflower genealogy. He has no proven royal ancestry, no proven Huguenot ancestors, and the names of his parents have never been proven (though John Mullyns and Joane Bridger of Dorking seem to be the best candidates). [Mayflower Descendant 44:41]
Further, the maiden name of his wife Alice is not known. It has not been shown to be Atwood, Poretiers, or any of the other identifications that are floating around. [Mayflower Descendant 44:44]. The identification of her as Alice Atwood is based solely on the fact that William Mullins mentions a "Goodman Woodes" in his will. That is clearly not enough evidence to make a genealogical connection! There is no evidence at all to show that Alice was the daughter of Nicholas Atwood of Westminster, Middlesex as claimed by the I.G.I. and Ancestral Files of the Morman church.
The occasionally published death date of 15 March 1620/1 for Alice is totally absurd--no such record exists. Alice was alive on April 2, 1621, as evidenced by the will of William Mullins. No doubt she was also alive three days later on April 5, 1621 when the Mayflower finally set sail--otherwise the will would have been changed.
BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY:
William Mullins was a fairly well-to-do shoe and boot dealer from Dorking, Surrey, England. He purchased a number of shares in the Pilgrims joint-stock company, becoming one of the Merchant Adventurers. He brought his wife Alice, daughter Priscilla and son Joseph to America on the Mayflower. Only Priscilla would survive the first winter, however. William Mullins made out his death-bed will on 21 February 1620/1, in which he mentions his wife Alice, daughter Priscilla, son Joseph, and married children William and Sarah who were still in Dorking. He also mentions a "Goodman Woodes" who remains unidentified, and a "Master Williamson" which was likely a Dutch pseudonym for William Brewster who was a fugitive at the time (for printing illegal religious pamphlets in Leyden).
SOURCES:
1. Mayflower Descendant 1:231-232, "The Will of William Mullins"
2. Mayflower Descendant 7:37,179, "The Estates of William(2) Mullins", by George Bowman
3. Mayflower Descendant 44:39-44, "The Mullins Family", by Alicia Crane Williams
4. Mayflower Quarterly 39:83, "William Mullin's Grandchildren in England", by Robert S. Wakefield
5. Alicia Crane Williams, Families of Pilgrims: John Alden and William Mullins, Mass. Soc. of Mayf. Desc., 1986

WILL
Mayflower Web Pages, Caleb Johnson, 1998
http://members.aol.com/calebj/passenger.html
" Will of William Mullins
2 April 1621
In the name of God Amen : I comit my soule to God that gave it and my bodie to the earth from whence it came. Alsoe I give my goodes as followeth That fforty poundes in the hand of goodman Woodes I give my wife tenn poundes, my sonne Joseph tenn poundes, my daughter Priscilla tenn poundes, and my eldest sonne tenn poundes Also I give to my eldest sonne all my debtes, bonds, bills (onelye yt forty poundes excepted in the handes of goodman Wood) given as aforsaid wth all the stock in his owne handes. To my eldest daughter I give ten shillings to be paied out of my sonnes stock Furthermore that goodes I have in Virginia as followeth To my wife Alice halfe my goodes & to Joseph and Priscilla the other halfe equallie to be devided betweene them. Alsoe I have xxj dozen of shoes, and thirteene paire of bootes wch I give into the Companies handes for forty poundes at seaven years and if thy like them at that rate. If it be thought to deare as my Overseers shall thinck good And if they like them at that rate at the divident I shall have nyne shares whereof I give as followeth twoe to my wife, twoe to my sonne William, twoe to my sonne Joseph, twoe to my daugher Priscilla, and one to the Companie. Allsoe if my sonne William will come to Virginia I give him my share of land furdermore I give to my twoe Overseers Mr John Carver and Mr Williamson, twentye shillinges apeece to see this my will performed desiringe them that he would have an eye over my wife and children to be as fathers and freindes to them ; Allsoe to have a speciall eye to my man Robert wch hathe not so approved himselfe as I would he should have done.
This is a Coppye of Mr Mullens his Will of all particulars he hathe given. In witnes whereof I have sett my hande John Carver, Giles Heale, Christopher Joanes.
Vicesimo tertio : die mensis Julii Anno Domini Millesimo sexcentesimo vicesimo primo Emanavit Commissio Sare Blunden als Mullins filie naturali et legitime dicti defuncti ad administrand bona iura et credita eiusdem defuncti iuxta tenorem et effectum testamenti suprascripti eo quod nullum in eodem testamento nominavit executorem de bene ect Jurat. 68, Dale.
[TRANSLATION OF THE LATIN]: In the month of July Anno Domini 1621. On the 23d day issued a commission to Sarah Blunden, formerly Mullins, nartural and legitimate daughter of William Mullins, late of Dorking in the County of Surrey, but deceased in parts beyond the seas, seized &c., for administering the goods, rights and credits of the said deceased, according to the tenor and effect of the will of the said deceased because in that will he named no executor. In due form &c. swears."

BOOK
"Saints and Strangers- Being the Lives of the Pilgrim Fathers and their Families with their Friends and Foes and an Account of their Posthumous Wanderings in Limbo, Their Final Resurrection and Rise to Glory and the Strange Pilgrimages of Plymouth Rock" George F Willison, Reynal & Hitchcock NY 1945:
p130: "By an ironic twist of fate, it is among the 'strangers' and not 'ye saincts' that one finds the three Pilgrims who, thanks to Longfellow, have enjoyed the greatest posthumous fame- Myles Standish, John Alden, and Priscilla Mullins. (For the passengers on the 'Mayflower', see Appendix A, which, with Appendix B, constitutes a sort of 'dramatis personae'.) The last may possibly have been a Separatist on boarding the 'Mayflower', for Cushman had early outlined the venture to her father who was one of the first ot sign up and pay in hismoney. Largely because of his name, tradition has it that William Mullins- or 'Molines', as he wrote it- was a Huguenot and came from France to join the company. It is much more likely that his was merely one of many common English names of Norman orgin. In any case, he hod long been a shopkeeper at Dorking, Surrey, about thirty miles southwest of London, and from there departed for the New World. With him came his wife and two children, Joseph and Priscilla, a girl in her late teens and probably not half so prim as painted- and certainly not so affectedly coy, a revolting mannerism not of hers but of Longfellow's day..."

ANCESTRAL FILE
Ancestral File Ver 4.19 PZZV-J2.

   Events:

1. Immigration; 5 Aug 1620, Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA. "Mayflower", from Leyden Holland via Southampton England.

   Marriage Information:

William married Alice ATWOOD in 1595 in Dorking, Surrey, England. (Alice ATWOOD was born in Jan 1573-1574 in St Martin- In-The-Field, London, Middlesex, England, christened in Jan 1574 in St Martin- In-The-Field, London, Middlesex, England, died on 15 Mar 1620/21 in Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA and was buried in 1621 in St Martins, Surrey, England.)