The following are the known adventurers (founding investors) of the Massachusetts Bay Company from the time of the granting of the Royal Charter, 1628, to the sailing of the fleet of 1630. The Company was what we now would call a closely-held corporation, and almost all the investors, as well as we can determine, can be classed among about an half-dozen groupings by pre-existant ties of family, business, vicinity of homes, or coöperation in Puritan religious and political activities and causes. Of 127 known adventurers, about a third emigrated with their families to New England between 1628 and 1640. Many of the others sent some of their children to take up residence on the lands they claimed.

The adventurers who established families in the new Commonwealth before 1633 are not listed here, because information about them may be found elsewhere in this Web site (on the pages b-data.htm, c-data.htm, etc.). They are Simon Bradstreet, William Coddington, William Colbron, Samuel Cole, Thomas Dudley, John Endecott, Rev. Francis Higginson, Roger Ludlow, Increase Nowell, Abraham Palmer, Rev. George Phillips, William Pyncheon, Edward Rossiter, Sir Richard Saltonstall, Samuel Sharpe, Rev. Samuel Skelton, Elias Stileman, William Vassall, and John Winthrop.

Generally speaking all these adventurers were successful London businessmen, or landed gentry from the Counties of the eastern coast or the southwest of England --- the same areas which had long been the stronghold of Christian reformism, and where the Puritan armies were later mustered by Cromwell. The Massachusetts Bay Company cannot be regarded in the same light as earlier commercial American ventures, as its motivation was primarily religious and political in the context of the brewing Puritan Revolution. The donations of these adventurers were generous enough to found and sustain the Colony, and their only recompense was a claim to some raw wilderness acreage --- not vast estates, but just sufficient (granted usually at 4 to 8 acres per pound sterling*) to make a living should the time come when flight from murderous, inquisitional religious and political persecution be necessary.

As it came about, around 1640 the reformist Christian forces in Parliament began to prevail, and flight from England was no longer necessary. Many of the adventurers listed below were prominent in the English Revolution.

The families are included to the best of our knowledge. Clearly, we haven't listed all the vital information which must be available about these prominent founders of the Massachusetts and English Commonwealths. We seek the help of researchers to fill in the blanks. Thanks!

*The English pound sterling (divided 20 shillings to the pound and 12 pence to the shilling) in those times had about the purchasing equivalent of $1000 of today's currency, based on a skilled 17th century English craftsman's day's wage of one shilling, and the ha'penny price of a loaf of bread or a pint of beer. Thus this raw undeveloped land was valued at about $125 to $250 per acre. The adventurers donated between £50 and £400 each.

Abbreviations:
a=ante(before); b=born; c=circa(about); d=died; dau=daughter (of) ; emig=emigrated to MBC; GCMB=Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay (a.k.a. the Massachusetts Bay Company); int=interred(buried); inv=estate inventoried(after death); m=married; p=post(after); unk=name unknown; wd=will dated; wp=will probated; x=christened
bart=baronet, esq=esquire, gent=gentleman, M.P. = Member of Parliament, Rev=Reverend minister
CT=Connecticut; MBC=Massachusetts Bay Colony; ME=Maine; RI=Rhode Island

All dates are original Julian calendar (wherein Dec 31, 1630 was the day before Jan 1, 1630/1 and Mar 24 1630/31 was the day before Mar 25, 1631 ).
Where the date of birth or christening is not known precisely, the English Origin can be assumed to be traditional or conjectural.
Some later marriages (where the wife was past childbearing age) are not shown here.
Daughters of the adventurers are listed by their adult married names, when known.
An asterisk after the date of arrival in the MBC indicates that the person soon returned permanently to England.

Richard BELLINGHAM, gent.
Born	1592
Died	7 Dec 1672
Origin	Boston, Lincs
Occupation	lawyer, magistrate
Came to MBC	1634
Father	William, Esq. of Bromby Woods, Lincs
Mother	Frances Amcotts
Spouse 1	Elizabeth Backhouse, sister of William (above)
Children	Samuel
Spouse 2	Penelope Pelham, sister of Herbert (below)
Children	John (no issue)
Nota bene	Recorder of Boston, Lincs 1625-33 and its M.P. A friend of Rev. John Cotton, and was an Assistant, Treasurer, later many years Governor of MBC. He contributed greatly to the first code of laws.
Links	The original Boston, in the UK, has an informative page about the "Boston group" of settlers. Chelsea, MA, has a page describing his home there, still extant.

Sir William BRERETON, bart.
Born	1604
Died	1661
Origin	Handforth, Cheshire
Occupation	magistrate, soldier
Father	Sir William Brereton of Handford / Handforth
Mother	Margaret Holland
Spouse	Susanna Booth, of Dunham Massey, Cheshire
Children	Thomas
2nd Spouse	Cecily Skeffington, widow Mytton.
Children	2 daughters
Nota bene	M.P. for Cheshire 1628 and 1639, one of judges who condemned King Charles. For his victories as a commander in the New Army, Cromwell gave Sir William Croyden Palace southeast of London (still extant), lately the home of their enemy Archbishop Laud. He was later executed by King Charles II.
Biography	A brief biography of Brereton, by Michael Wiesner (with a good bibliography), and another by Harold Forster of Nantwich (with links to the Brereton family society).

Rev. Hugh PETER
Born	1599
Died	16 Oct 1660
Origin	Fowy, Cornwall; London
Occupation	minister
Came to MBC	1635
Spouse	Elizabeth (widow Reade)
Children	.
2nd Spouse	Deliverance Sheffield
Children	Elizabeth Barker
Nota bene	Godfather to John Winthrop, Jr. He was pastor at Salem for a time before returning to England. He was principal cleric in the New Army, and later was unjustly executed by King Charles II.