Hester Cooke

Hester Mahieu was born between 1582-1588 at Prob Canterbury, England and died after 8 June 1666 at Plymouth Plantation.

She was the daughter of Jacques Mahieu and Jenne (?).

Married: on 20 July 1603 in Leiden, Holland to Francis Cooke (1583-1663)

Children of Francis Cooke and Hester Mahieu:

1. John Cooke, ("Mayflower" Passenger) b. Jan 1607 d. 23 Nov 1695 married Sarah Warren b. Abt 1614 d. Aft 15 Jul 1696
2. unnamed child buried in Leiden
3. Jane Cooke b. Bef 1613 d. Abt 1650 married Experience Mitchell b. Abt 1609 d. Abt 11 May 1689
4. Elizabeth was baptized in Leiden on December 26, 1611; no further record
5. Jacob Cooke b. Abt 1618 d. 18 Dec 1675 married Damaris Hopkins b. May 1617 d. Bef Nov 1669
6. Hester Cooke b. Abt 1620 d. Aft 21 May 1669 married Richard Wright b. 1608 d. 9 Jun 1691
7. Mary Cooke b. Abt 1626 d. 21 Mar 1696 married John (Tomson) Thompson b. 1616 d. 16 Jun 1696

Brief Biography

Francis Cooke married Hester le Mahieu on 20 July 1603 in Leiden, Holland; she was a French Walloon whose parents had initially fled to Canterbury, England; she left for Leiden sometime before 1603. Francis Cooke and Hester le Mahieu's marriage occurred in Leiden, Holland six years before the Pilgrim church made its move there, so he was living there long before their arrival and must have met up with and joined them afterwards.

Francis, and his oldest son John, came on the Mayflower to Plymouth in 1620. He left behind his wife Hester and his other children Jane, Jacob, Elizabeth and Hester. After the Colony was founded and better established, he sent for his wife and children, and they came to Plymouth in 1623 on the ship "Anne."

Hester Mahieu was admitted to communion in the Walloon church by confession of faith. on 1 June 1603.

Notes

• Edward Winslow wrote in "Hypocrisie Unmasked" ["Mayflower Descendant" 27:64] --
  

"Take notice of our practie at Leyden, viz. that one Samuel Terry was received from the French Church there, into communion with us; also the wife of Francis Cooke being a Walloone, holds communion with the Church at Plymouth , as she came from the French, to this day, by virtue of communion of churches."

GEDCOM Note

Came to America on the ship Anne in 1623. She was of Walloon (French Protestant) stock but came to Leyden, Holland from Canterbury, England where there was a Walloon church, in the records of which the name of Mahieu was common.

The marriage intentions state Hester Mahieu was from Canterbury, England and she was accompanied by her mother, Jennie Mahieu and her sister Jennie Mahieu. In his book "Hypocrisie Unmasked", Edward Winslow stated she was a "Walloone" and came from the French "Mayflower Descendant" 27:145 shows she was admitted to the French Reformed Church in Leiden in 1603.

"Take notice of our practie at Leyden, viz. that one Samuel Terry was received from the French Church there, into communion with us; also the wife of Francis Cooke being a Walloone, holds communion with the Church at Plymouth , as she came from the French, to this day, by virtue of communion of churches." [Winslow's "Hypocrisie Unmasked" in "Mayflower Descendant" 27:64]

Daughter of Jacques an d Jenne/Jeanne (___) Mahieu, Walloon refugees from the area around Lille (now in France). If 19 at marriage and 42 at the birth of her last known child about late 1626, then Hester was born about 1584 and thus was about two years younger than her husband. As Hester was about 82 in 1666, it seems likely she died closer to 1666 than to 1675. Hester Mahie was admited to communion in the Walloon church by confession of faith on June 1, 1603, about a month and a half before her marriage.findagrave.com

Links

• Find A Grave Memorial # 16220034
• the Mayflower Society and family records. She came to America on the "Anne" in 1623 from Canterbury, England.
• http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pattyrose/engel/g...
• http://www.allaboutnhre.com/familytree/franciscooke.html