Dr. Samuel Fuller

Samuel Fuller (born c.1580/1 – died in plymouth between August 9 and September 26, 1633) He was a passenger on the historic 1620 voyage of the Pilgrim ship Mayflower and became a respected church deacon and the physician for Plymouth Colony.

He was baptized on January 20, 1580 at Redenhall, co. Norfolk, England. Samuel was a son of Robert Fuller, a butcher, and his first wife Sarah Dunthorne. She was buried there on July 1, 1584. In 1614 Samuel is mentioned in the will of his father Robert, but was bequeathed a small amount of inheritance money, less even than his sisters, which may indicate his father’s unhappiness with him.

His first mention in records of the time was of his move to Leiden by 1610 where he was a witness to his sister Ann’s betrothal. And in 1611 he witnessed the betrothal of future Mayflower passenger Degory Priest to Sarah Allerton, sister of another Mayflower passenger, Isaac Allerton.

His name appears in the Leiden records, as an active church congregation member. In Leiden records he was referred to as “a serge worker of London.”

On January 27, 1612 he witnessed the betrothal of his sister Ann to a William White, apparently not the Mayflower passenger of the same name. This one record entry has gone on to cause much confusion in more recent genealogy with apparent Mayflower passenger William White descendants mistakenly claiming that Ann Fuller married the Mayflower passenger William White in Leiden and assigning the Mayflower passenger William Whites wife Susannah the maiden name (which the Mayflower Society states is unknown) of “Fuller”. Additionally, the Society states that there is no proof that the Mayflower White family were ever in Leiden and in fact joined the company in England as non-religious members.

Samuel Fuller was betrothed to Agnes Carpenter, daughter of Alexander Carpenter, on March 15, 1613 in Leiden. They married on April 24, 1613. The marriage record notes a prior marriage to Alice Glasscock, who was deceased, but no record have been found of this marriage in Leiden or England.

On May 7, 1613, Samuel Fuller witnessed the betrothal of Alice Carpenter, sister to his wife Agnes, to Edward Southworth. Alice would later be widowed and in 1623 would marry Plymouth Governor William Bradford.

In mid-1615 Samuel’s wife Agnes gave birth to a boy who died soon after and was buried on June 29, 1615 at St. Peter’s in Leiden. Agnes died a few days later and was buried on July 3, 1615.

In October 1615 records note that Samuel was living in the Groene Poort (Green Alley) neighborhood of Leiden “over against the clock tower”.

On May 27, 1617 Samuel Fuller remarried to Bridget Lee.

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Wikipedia