The Priest Family
Passenger Profile

Degory Priest traveled on the Mayflower as a single man. Left behind was his wife Sarah and their daughters Mary and Sarah. He signed the Mayflower Compact, while the Mayflower was anchored at Provincetown on 11 November 1620.

Degory was born circa 1579, date and place unknown. It has been suggested that he was the Digorius Prust, the son of Peter and Joanna Prust, baptized at Hartland, Devonshire, England, 11 August 1582. Degory died at Plymouth during the general sickness the first winter, on 1 January 1620/21. He married at Leiden, 4 November 1611, Sarah (Allerton) Vincent, the sister of Isaac Allerton. Sarah remarried at Leiden, 13 November 1621, Godbert Godbertson/ Cuthbertson. This family came over on the Anne in 1623 and were allotted six acres of land. In the 1627 cattle division, they are listed with Isaac Allerton’s group and included a son Samuel Godbertson, and Mary and Sarah Priest.

Children of Degory and Sarah (Allerton) Priest:

  1. Mary Priest, born at Leiden, circa 1613; died at Charlestown, after 7 March 1686/87; married at Plymouth, circa 1630, Phineas Pratt; they had eight children: John, Mary, Samuel, Daniel, Mercy, Joseph, Peter and Aaron Pratt.
  2. Sarah Priest, born circa 1615; died probably in England, after 1 August 1648; married at Plymouth, circa 1631, John Coombs; they had two children: John and Francis Coombs.

Sources:

Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, Degory Priest, by Mrs. Charles D. Townsend, Robert S. Wakefield and Margaret H. Stover; rev. by Margaret H. Stover, vol. 8., Plymouth, 2008.

Mayflower Passenger References, (from contemporary records and scholarly journals), by Susan E. Roser. 2011. pp. 312-15.

“The English Origin Of Degory1 Priest Of The Mayflower: An Evaluation,” by Patricia L. Hatcher, The American Genealogist 80 [Oct. 2005]:241-260.