Weekly Puzzle - Richard Trendall

In 1635 Richard Trendall was one of the 72 passengers on the Expectation bound for Providence Island.

Providence Island Colony - Wikimedia

Settling on Providence Island by the English began in 1629 when Phillip Bell brought several Bermudians, both black and white, to set up a colony. Unlike the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the setters on Providence Island were not encouraged to become independent and until 1635 bring families was highly discouraged.

By 1635, the end of the year in which Richard Trendall arrived, there was a population of 500 white men, 40 women, 90 blacks and a few children, scattered across the island.  27 of those women had also arrive on the Expectation. The village of New Westminster had just thirty houses, mostly of timber.

You can read about the history of the Island on Wikipedia (click on link to the right) or if you'd like a more in depth look at the settlement find a copy of Providence Island, 1630-1641: The Other Puritan Colony.

The colony was wiped out by the Spanish in 1640.


So, who was Richard Trendall?  Did he survive the end of the colony and end up elsewhere in the West Indies? Perhaps he went to Bermuda where we find other Trendall records starting in 1645 (see last weeks puzzle).