Stephen Bachiler

Stephen Bachiler (buried October 31, 1656) was an English clergyman who was an early proponent of the separation of church and state in America.

Bachiler was born about 1560 or 1561; he matriculated at Oxford University 17 Nov 1581, when it is believed he was 20. Also called age 70 on 23 June 1631 when he made a trip to Flushing, Zeeland to visit family</ref> An early graduate of Oxford (St. John's College, 1586), he was vicar of Wherwell, Hampshire (1587–1605) when ousted for Puritanical leanings under James I. Bachiler is said to have married _____ Bates, sister of Rev. John Bates (who succeeded Bachiler as Vicar at Wherwell), about 1590, with whom he had six children: Nathaniel, Deborah, Stephen, Samuel, Ann, and Theodate.

Bachiler had a second marriage to Christian Weare, widow, in 1623. She died before 1627. His third marriage, in 1627, was to Helena Mason, the widow of Revd. Thomas Mason of Odiham, Hampshire; Mary, the daughter of Helena and Thomas Mason, was married to Richard Dummer, who also became involved in the founding of the Plough Company.

In 1630 he was a member of the Company of Husbandmen in London and with them, as the Plough Company, obtained a 1,600 mile² (4,000 km²) grant of land in Maine from the Plymouth Council for New England. The colony was called "Lygonia" after Cecily Lygon, mother of New England Council president Sir Ferdinando Gorges. Bachiler was to be its minister and leader. Although the settlers sailed to America in the winter of 1630-1631, the project was abandoned.

Bachiler was accompanied to America, on the ship William & Francis (5 June 1632) after an 88-day journey, by his third wife, Helena and his "family". Exactly who came with Rev. Bachiler is unknown. The families of his children Nathaniel, Deborah, Ann & Theodate are all later found in New England.

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