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persons of high social station, and was a
position of much consequence, as it in-
volved the supplying of relay of horses
and the entertainment of travelers. The
Scrooby Manor was a residence of im-
portance ; royalty had often been entertained
there, and Cardinal Wolsey was
its inmate for several weeks after his
downfall. The paternal Brewster died at
Scrooby in 1590. The birth, marriage,
and death records of the parish of Scrooby
are intact only since 1595, and there is no
authentic testimony of the date of birth
or the birthplace of Elder Brewster. In
accordance with an affidavit made by him
at Leyden on June 25, 1609, in which he
declares himself as being forty-two years
of age, the date of his birth must have
been in the last half of 1566 or the first
half of 1567. That Scrooby was his birth-
place is a matter of question, as there is
no evidence that his father was a resident
of that parish prior to his appointment as
receiver. Young Brewster's education fol-
lowed the lines given to the sons of nobility
and gentry. He matriculated December
3, 1580, at Peterhouse, which was
the oldest of the fourteen colleges, which
afterward became the University of Cambridge,
but he did not remain long enough
at that institution to receive his degree.
We find him after leaving Peterhouse in
the service of William Davidson, Queen
Elizabeth's Secretary of State ; he accompanied
him in August, 1585, to the Court
of The Netherlands on a diplomatic mission.
The downfall of William Davidson
occurred in 1587, and William Brewster,
leaving court circles, returned to Scrooby.
At the time of his father's death he administered
his estate, and succeeded him
as postmaster. For his services he received
the munificent salary of twenty
pence a day, which was increased in July,
1603, to two shillings. He resided at the
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
51
Manor House, and was held in high esteem
among the people, associating with
the gentlemen of the surrounding country,
and was prominent in promoting and fur-
thering religion. Of a serious and re-
ligious mind, the forms and customs of
the Established Church became abhorrent
to him, and he became interested and active
in the cause of the dissenters. Always
loyal to the home government, he re-
luctantly accepted the fact that his con-
scientious scruples required his separation
from the Established Church. He
helped to form a dissenting society which
met at his residence, thus forming the
nucleus which constituted the Plymouth
Pilgrims. The meetings were interrupted
by persecutions, continuance of which
caused a number of the Separatists (by
which they became known), to agitate in
1607 an emigration to Holland. William
Brewster being under the ban of the
church, became a member of a party
which unsuccessfully tried to sail from
Boston to Lincolnshire, England, and was
arrested and imprisoned. He was in pos-
session of considerable property at this
time, a large part of which was spent to
regain his liberty and in assisting the
poorer members of the party to escape to
Holland. His release from imprisonment
having been obtained, a successful attempt
of emigration was made and Hol-
land was reached. After a short stay
at Amsterdam he proceeded to Leyden,
where the Rev. Mr. Robinson had estab-
lished a church of which he was made rul-
ing elder. He now found himself deprived
of most of his wealth, and not fitted, like
the other Pilgrims, to unaccustomed hardships
and hard labor. His means had
been spent in providing for his family,
also by the treachery of a certain ship
captain on his voyage to Leyden, who appropriated
to himself most of his worldly