He became senior elder and the leader of Plymouth Colony, by virtue of his education and existing stature with those immigrating from the Netherlands, being a Brownist (or Puritan Separatist).

[citation needed] Beginning in 1580, he studied briefly at Peterhouse, Cambridge, before entering the service of William Davison, ambassador to the Netherlands, in 1584, giving him opportunity to hear and see more of reformed religion.

Restrictions and pressures applied by the authorities convinced the congregation of a need to emigrate to the more sympathetic atmosphere of Holland, and Brewster organized the removal.

[citation needed] Brewster lived near St Peter's church (Dutch: Pieterskerk) in Leiden with his wife and children.

In 1610–11, Robinson and Brewster acted as mediators when the Ancient Church, the oldest Brownist congregation in Amsterdam, split into two factions following Francis Johnson and Henry Ainsworth, but they failed to reconcile them.

"[9] In 1618, Brewster's press published De regimine Ecclesianae Scoticanae by Scottish minister David Calderwood, which was highly critical of James VI and his government of the Kirk.

According to historian Stephen Tomkins, Brewster handed himself over to the Dutch authorities, who refused to send him to his death in England and so told James that they had arrested the wrong person and let him go.

[9] Brewster and Robinson were the prime movers in the decision to sail for America, but once he was in hiding the Separatists looked to their deacon John Carver and to Robert Cushman to carry on negotiations with the appropriate officials in London.

Finding the area near Provincetown occupied by indigenous people, the ship's company decided to continue exploring along the nearby coast.

Brewster's family had managed to survive the first terrible winter unscathed, but they lost daughters Fear and Patience, now married to Isaac Allerton and Thomas Prence, respectively.

The extensive search for further information on Mary continues, and the number of researchers includes Jeremy Bangs, Director of the American Pilgrim Museum in Leiden, Holland; Caleb Johnson; and Louise Throop.

Others born 1604 and 1608 may also have died young:[citation needed] Three of the Mayflower pilgrims, including William Brewster, took responsibility for children of Samuel More, who accompanied him and others as indentured servants: In addition to these, Jasper More, age 7, was assigned to John Carver as a servant, but died of a "common infection" in December 1620 while the Mayflower was in Cape Cod Harbor (several weeks after Elinor).

He was buried ashore in the area of what is now Provincetown, where a memorial plaque bears his and the names of four others "who died at sea while the ship lay at Cape Cod Harbor" in November/December 1620.

Finally, Elinor More, age 8, was assigned to Edward Winslow as a servant, but died in November 1620 soon after the arrival of the Mayflower at Cape Cod Harbor.

With many others who died that winter, her name appears on the Pilgrim Memorial Tomb, Cole's Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts.

[29] William Brewster was characterized in a 1992 biography as the "father of New England"[30]: 1  and a "sine qua non of the entire Pilgrim adventure, its backbone, its brain and its conscience.