HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY GREETINGS TO ALL OUR OVERSEAS FRIENDS

We know that this special day is celebrated by many friends and certainly family members living in America. I am currently writing about the Mayflower ship that took some of our Billericay antecedents to America in 1620. Last year our town had planned a wonderful programme of events to mark this once in a lifetime commemoration, and we did, in fact, manage to take part in a few events just before the covid epidemic changed so many of our carefully planned gatherings, but nevertheless, our thoughts were with our American friends. 

The story leading up to the Thanksgiving tradition has interesting connections with our town of Billericay in Essex. It was from our community on 6 September 1620 that a group of local residents joined the contingent of Puritan emigrants who boarded the Mayflower ship at Plymouth. Christopher Martin, who is believed to have lived at the Chantry House at 57-61 High Street (pictured) was the ship’s governor who supplied the food for the voyage, including flour ground at the Bell Hill windmill. The Chantry House building still stands, but looks a little different these days, having been considerably altered over the years and is now a restaurant.