Stephen Hopkins

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Stephen Hopkins (l. 1581-1644 CE) was a passenger of the Mayflower on the voyage of 1620 CE which established the Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts, USA. He was the only member of the party with prior experience in North America, having taken part in a mission to supply the Jamestown Colony of Virginia in 1609 CE. The ship he was traveling on, the Sea Venture, was wrecked on the coast of Bermuda, stranding the company there for the next ten months until they completed the construction of two ships which brought them to Jamestown in 1610 CE. The wreck of the Sea Venture, chronicled by one of the passengers, William Strachey (l. 1572-1621 CE), provided the inspiration for William Shakespeare's play The Tempest (written 1610-1611 CE), and one of the characters, Stephano, is believed to be based on Hopkins.

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