The 1622 Indian uprising resulting in the massacre of a quarter of the entire white population of Virginia has knocked the confidence of its financial backers in England and seals the fate of the London Virginia Company. It is over £9,000 in debt and virtually bankrupt. The Crown then makes one final gesture, proposes a fourth charter but this severely limits the Company’s ability to make decisions on the governing of Virginia so it is rejected by the shareholders.

The King has had enough, calls in Sir John Wolstenholm of Stanmore in Middlesex, a member of the King’s Council for Virginia and orders him to close it down. Despite his reluctance – Wolstenholm has financed many expeditions to America (Cape Wolstenholm at the entrance to Hudson Bay is named after him) he obeys and is shown here, on 15 July winding up the Company’s affairs, closing the offices and removing the records from their London headquarters. In future, Virginia will be run as a Crown colony.

Middle scene, right. It’s not all work in London. Three men are shown throwing sticks through a hoop. It’s the game Paille Maille or Pall Mall, named after the Avenue where it is played.

Middle scene, left. The year is now 1625. To the left of St. Sidwell’s Church in Exeter in Devon, John White is shown riding hither and yon spreading the word about the Dorchester Company’s plans among Puriton-minded congregations in west country churches. Two of his clergymen friends are also backers and promoters of the company.  One is the Reverend John Warham who at present is the Vicar of Crewkerne in Somerset but will later be the incumbent of St. Sidwell’s. The second is the Reverend John Maverick, vicar of Beaworthy in Devon. Maverick is a very awkward, bigoted individualistic Puritan, whose family name will become a household word in America, used to describe an irresponsible person. However, at present he and Wareham hold meetings in St. Sidwell’s. Listening to them is young Roger Clapp. Clapp becomes friends with Wareham and one day will settle in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Fortunately, he also keeps a diary which gives a most important historical record in detailing the various shades of the Puritan religion that the leaders propound, to prove themselves ‘holier than thou’.