Pilgrims’ Origins

I thoroughly enjoyed the article “Retracing the Pilgrims’ Progress” (Nov. 22). But author Victoria Shearer states, erroneously, “The Pilgrim fathers originally came mostly from tiny villages sunk deep in the English countryside of Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire. . . .”

One of the exhibits at the Mayflower II in Plymouth, Mass., depicts a map of the British Isles marked off in counties. It is titled “Origins of the Pilgrims” and states: “Included among the 102 people who crowded aboard the [Mayflower] ship for the grueling voyage were men and women from all parts of England. . . .”

The fact remains that slightly more than 10% of the Pilgrims came from the three counties of Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire. Though I cannot claim an affiliation with any of these pioneers, 19 of them hail from my birthplace--London--and a further four from Gloucestershire, which I claim as home.

VERONICA PINCKARD, Valencia