ANGELL HOLLARD.
A research into his ancestral lineage states that Angell Hollard was born in 1614 in Weymouth, Dorset, England, and died on 30 Jun 1670 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts at the age 56. He was buried on 3 July 1670 in Boston. But that is just the dry historical record.
Angell however fascinated me, and not just for his unusual name.
So I dug further into his life in New England and that of his wife Katharine, who outlived him, and in 1671 married another one of those pioneers who sailed on the Mary Gold - John Upham. (which I felt was extremely interesting as it showed the bonds that must have come about by those long seven weeks confined on that small ship with over 100 other passengers being tossed about on the Atlantic waves)
John Upham was 35 years of age when the party had sailed from England (some 13 years Katharine’s senior) which would have made him 71 years old at the time of their marriage.
One can imagine the 21 year old Angell, maybe slightly looking up to John Upham as the more experienced man, but also showing him that he was maybe more fitter and enthusiastic about the voyage ahead of them. As fit men they would have been very useful to the crew as "extra hands" to help out in times of storms and gales. I'm sure Angell would have relished that challenge.
I'm working of the musical theme for this part of the Story - the sailing off from Weymouth Bay - for most of the passengers the first time they had ever set foot on a sailing ship. This will be voiced by Angell himself .
The chorus goes
"Finding our Sea-legs
as the deck goes up and down
Learning the ropes
for when our next Watch come round
Counting off the days
and trusting in the Waves"
The more I researched into this family the more there seemed to be some great human interest stories. Angell and Katharine had a very large family – all born in Massachusetts. Their children Hannah, Elizabeth, Thomas, Hepzibar, Sarah, John, Mary and Joanna. Hannah was born on the 8th October 1635 ( just 5 months after landing in New England) and their youngest Joanna was born on the 17th December 1653 (although it appears she died at only three months of age in March 1654)
Katharine would have been 40 years old at the time of the baby’s birth, and this combined with having given birth to eight children ( and possibly yet another having been still born?) could have contributed to the child’s early demise.
There is also documented evidence that Angell was certainly not the ‘perfect husband’ being recorded as ‘absent’ from New England in 1651 when it is believed he returned briefly to England and then again for a long spell of absence between 1654 and 1670. Katharine seemed to have been left to bring up the rapidly growing family for many years alone.
Angels second daughter Elizabeth ( born in Weymouth Massachusetts in June 1638) seems to have inherited her father’s 'feisty' spirit and her Mothers resilience. Because by 1663 (at 25 years of age) she was recorded as being the owner/landlady of the Salutation Inn in Boston Massachusetts with her first husband John Brookins. Then when John Brookins died she is recorded as owing the Salutation Inn with a second husband, Edward Grove. And when Edward died in 1683 she married again to a William Green and they ran the Inn until they transferred the ownership to William Phipps in 1692 (when she would have been 54 year old – surviving nearly thirty years as a landlady would surely testament to her grit and survival instincts)
The Salutation Inn also forms a key part in our Story as it was the Meeting place of the plotters who carried out the famous Boston Tea Party in 1773, which so upset the English King George the Third. In one of those wonderful moments of historical irony, King George is also celebrated in Weymouth England as a major benefactor in the promotion and growth of the Town as of one of Englands premier seaside resorts. He is commemorated with a large gilded statue that was erected in his honour by the people of Weymouth and which takes pride of place on the sea front esplanade. The inpscription reads -
"The grateful Inhabitants to GEORGE THE THIRD On His entering the 50th Year of his REIGN"
It was installed in 1809, the year which marked the Golden Jubilee of the King. However, the following year after having suffered from long period of illness ( The Madness of King George) his Son took over as Prince Regent.
However, back to Elizabeth.
For her role in bringing our Story to life I have made Elizabeth our “Principal Lady Actor” and she shares the second half of our Production with her father Angell Hollard. It is her voice that expresses the musical theme that closes the show.
In the main theme song of this second half - Angell Hollard’s Tale”- she sings of how her Father told them all as children about the voyage out from Old England, and how tough things were in the early years of the Settlement of Weymouth.
Here are some of Angell’s words that she shares with our audience.
“We left Weymouth Bay under full sail and guided by the stars
Following the Sea Lanes
Laid down by the ones who laid the trail
They’d left Plymouth Sound driven by Faith and trusting in the Waves
Founding a New Land
Fathering a Nation Free and Brave “