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The Dorchester Company of Adventurers was a Joint Stock Company established in 1623 in England to enable the English colonisation of North America^[1] It was based in Dorchester, Dorset, near the English Channel, and was founded at the instigation of the puritan Anglican churchman, John White.^[2] The company was a commercial organisation which aimed to provide a safe haven on the North American Coast where supplies could be stored. This was established at Cape Ann.^[3]

The Dorchester Company was composed of members of White's congregations in addition to other Puritans that he contacted. They chose to establish a colony at Cape Ann instead of Plymouth because the pilgrims there had a separatist orientation.^[4] The company had 119 members.^[5] After selecting the destination, the company contracted 14 sailors who were willing to sail and help establish the settlement. The company closed due to a lack of funding.^[4]

Although the company only existed for three years it played a significant role in the later development of the Massachusetts Bay Company. White, who was still intent on establishing a colony, was able to transfer Dorchester Company's charter to a new group, the New England Company for a Plantation in Massachusetts Bay or more commonly known as the New England Company.^[4] Six of the original members of the Dorcherster Company were able to sail and join the Massachusetts Bay Company.^[5] The new trading association also included West Country men that had interests in the Dorchester Company such as Thomas Southcott, John Brown, and John Humfrey.^[6]

References

^ "Dorchester Company of Adventurers". Oxford Reference. Oxford University. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
^ Goff, John (2009). Salem's Witch House: A Touchstone to Antiquity. Arcadia Publishing. p. 1625. ISBN 978-1-61423-286-5.
^ Palfrey, John G. "The Great Puritan Migration to New England – History Moments". historyweblog.com. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c Moe, Barbara (2003). The Charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony: A Primary Source Investigation into the 1629 Charter. New York, NY: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-8239-3801-8.
^ ^a ^b Robbins, William G. (1969). "The Massachusetts Bay Company: An Analysis of Motives". The Historian. 32 (1): 83–98. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6563.1969.tb01138.x. ISSN 0018-2370. JSTOR 24440500.
^ Delahaye, Agnès (2020). Settling the Good Land: Governance and Promotion in John Winthrop’s New England (1620–1650). Leiden: BRILL. p. 94. ISBN 978-90-04-43139-3.