I’ve been thinking about the enormity of discomfort and expense the Ralph Dayton family endured to leave Ashford for the unknown.
When an order in council was passed on April 6 of 1638 (some say 1639) that persons wishing to go to New England would have to obtain a license, “many persons embarked ostensibly for Virginia, but really for Massachusetts.”
Atwater said,
Many found no difficulty in obtaining a bona-fide certificate of conformity, and it does not appear that any objected to the oaths of allegiance and supremacy. If unable to obtain a certificate from the minister of the parish where they had lived, they came, some clandestinely, and some under borrowed names and corresponding passports… If ever lists of the passengers in the Hector and her consort should be discovered, they will probably not contain the name of John Davenport or of Samuel Eaton.
Though unlikely, might it be possible that the Daytons traveled under borrowed names and authorization? I suppose it might even be possible that Ralph and family were on a vessel bound for “Virginia.”
Just a thought.
Dayton Ancestry 
It seems as though a person would have to be above common wealth to be able to afford the travel. Do you suppose Ralph was well-off in Ashford? Another possibility is that he was supported by someone else of wealth, perhaps, Ralfe the younger,
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You beat me to it. The next post I was working on addressed expense.
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I wonder what proportion of these migrants came as indentured servants?
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Hi Paul. I wonder the same thing. I’ll bet the percentage is much higher than we realize.
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