Note 119 — Emmanuel Altham to Sir Edward Altham

Mr. Pemberton, apparently a New Plymouth Adventurer and merchant, sent his ship under the sponsorship of the Dorchester Adventurers, the company founded under the inspiration of Rev. John White of Dorchester, which became the ancestor of the Massachusetts Bay Company. Pemberton probably was a close relative of another Adventurer, John Pemberton, a minister and enemy of the Leyden congregation Separatist element among the Plymouth settlers. John Pemberton received letters from John Lyford against the religious practices and government at Plymouth, and was a leader in the factional strife in the Company of Adventurers which led to its big split in 1625 after a debate over Lyford.