St Botolph's Church Boston (1612)
Some four years later, while the Scrooby separatists were considering their options in Holland, a new vicar arrived at St Botolph's church. He was John Cotton (1584-1652), who, with his congregation, would take the name of Boston to Massachusetts. Cotton came here in 1612, but his Puritan sympathies brought him into conflict with the church authorities. In 1630, ten years after the Pilgrim Fathers had sailed, several from his church departed for New England. Cotton was ill at the time, but joined them in 1633, accompanied by fellow puritan Thomas Hooker.