Family register
Hester (Mahieu) Cooke
- Came on the Anne
Came on the AnneHester (Mahieu) Cooke was born to Jaques Mahieu and Jenne Mahieu. She married Francis Cooke. She had 6 children, including John Cooke, Jane Cooke and Elizabeth Cooke.
Early life
Hester Mahieu was born between 1582 and 1588, probably at Canterbury in Kent, England.[4] Her family were Protestant Walloon refugees who left Lille in the Spanish Netherlands to escape religious conflict and persecution, and who then left for England.[2]
Marriage and family
On 5 July 1603 Francis Cooke, a woolcarder from England, was betrothed in Leiden to Hester le Mahieu, a singlewoman, who was accompanied by her mother Jenne and by her sister.[12] She married Francis Cooke in Leiden on 20 July 1603 or shortly afterwards.[1][8][12] According to the Huguenot Society records, the marriage took place in June 1603 at Leyden, Holland.[3] The couple had seven children, among them John, Jane, Elizabeth, Jacob, Hester and Mary.[5]
Migration to Plymouth
Hester stayed in Leiden in 1620, when her husband travelled to America on the Mayflower.[1][3] She followed him to Plymouth on the ship Anne; Wikipedia gives the year as 1623, while the Huguenot Society volume gives 1622.[1][3]
Later life and death
Hester Mahieu died after 18 June 1666 and before 28 December 1675, surviving her husband, who died on 7 April 1663.[3]
Life and records
Also Hester le Mahieu; MayflowerHistory.com says she survived Francis by at least three years