For best documented sources for Hopkins start with anything from Caleb Johnson. His research was responsible for finding Constance Hopkins' baptism and publishing the story in 1998 that broke down the brick wall to his first wife, Mary. Start in easy steps:

1.

Mayflower History website

http://mayflowerhistory.com/hopkins-stephen

2.

Caleb's book. Read the PREFACE for story of how the family was found in co. Hampshire.

http://tinyurl.com/Johnson-Book

(pub. 2007). A little out-of-date now due to newer discoveries by Simon Neal's 2012 research on 1st wife Mary. UPDATES are at

3.

Wikipedia entry

http://tinyurl.com/WIKIPEDIA-Stephen-Hopkins

For those who like the research process -- it quotes Simon Neal's 2012 article on extensive research trying to find the families of Stephen's known wives

m1: Mary (probably Kent) & m2: Elizabeth (probably Fisher)

(more comprehensive and accurate than most trees on the internet).

See there for Hopkins' personal information and his adventures in

Bermuda,

Jamestown, and

Plymouth.

4.

http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.hopkins/5435/mb.ashx

explains how he got tagged with

goofy birth date of 29 Oct 1581,

the Wotton, London, or Wortley, Gloucestershire birth &

mythical

CONSTANCE DUDLEY MESSES,

and how mythical

NICHOLAS HOPKINS &

MARY POOLE got invented as parents and

a man who worked in Norfolk invented as his grandfather and a phony grandmother who morphed through 100 years and 3 husbands on a famous website that sold her on three different CDs with different husbands with different name each time the same person REsubmitted it -- each a generation older than the original.

5.

His Millennium File on Ancestry.com has 4 errors.

Scroll up to 1st comment on this link for the details:

Wrong birth place doesn't exist and he wasn't born in either separately,

Wrong birth year,

Wrong death date,

Wrong marriage date.

http://tinyurl.com/7hdaxtm

6.

From THE MAYFLOWER SOCIETY website

https://themayflowersociety.org

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Neither his mother nor father was buried 4 Oct 1593. That's the date widow Elizabeth was appointed administrator of his estate in Winchester. The John Hopkins buried 4 Oct 1593 clearly shows "of Radcliff" in his burial record which apparently some have neglected to read. (Ratcliff or Ratcliffe is a locality in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets"--The place name is no longer commonly used per Wikipedia). 4 October is A MONTH AFTER HIS INVENTORY WAS REPORTED in Winchester, Hampshire. No clue for Elizabeth. She's last seen in Winchester, Hampshire in two tax rolls 1594. Don't copy from anyone who has her buried 4 Oct 1693. Don't copy from random trees offered as hints either. Better to leave a box blank than fill it with the wrong person, date, place, etc.

FAG has the death date for his mother (maiden name Williams) as 12 Oct 1593. Problem is that's the day before an Elizabeth WILLIAMS was buried in London -- under the last name Williams. We're looking for a logical burial for a married woman who would have been buried under that last name of Hopkins. Don't copy from random trees or websites without documentation.

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He has no known grandparents. They were invented on both sides. There is no "Duglam, England" copied on hundreds of trees. We know where/how that got invented. Morgan Williams didn't marry Elizabeth Breyton (she married a Baskerville). She was a generation older than he was. He had a different dau named Elizabeth who married Elizabeth Breyton's GRANDSON, Robert Whitney.

The "Rev." Stephen Hopkins who worked in Norfolk has not one single personal vital record -- no birth/baptism, marriage, names/births/baptisms of any children, death/burial/probate. We don't know his origins but we know he didn't marry Katherine Wheldon. Click on #4 above for explanation how that was invented and spread by CDs with three DIFFERENT husbands. Giles was 1st, Stephen 2nd, William 3rd. REsubmitted by the same person after changing her birth date each time to "FIT" with the newly invented husband.

If you find some documentation or records no one else has found please notify The Mayflower Society and NEHGS. They don't have them.

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English commoners very seldom had middle names back then. If you have someone with a middle name in the 1500-1600s see who/where you copied from and ask them where they found the middle name. If they don't bother to respond you'll have your answer.

https://blogs.ancestry.com/cm/middle-names-whered-they-come-from/

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Stephen Hopkins died between

6 June 1644 (when his will was made) and

17 July 1644 (when the inventory of his estate was reported).

His will was proved 20 August 1644. He didn't die exactly on any of those dates.

We do not know if he died in June or July.

If you think the process in those days took over 17 days after an appropriate amount of time for the family and community to grieve) before an estate inventory was taken then he probably died in June. If you think there was possibly a week's waiting/mourning period then he probably died in July. No one knows because they no one wrote down the date.

Be very wary using information from "submittal style" genealogy websites. Most of them have errors copied over the last thirty plus years from a very famous website that accepted anything anyone submitted, put them on CDs, sold them and did it again. Around 2008 the old "contributed" IGI files were discontinued because of worldwide errors, but by then that stuff was all over the internet and is being recycled unknowingly by people who believe everything they see on the internet.

"Geneanet Community Trees Index" has turned out to be quite toxic as it appears people are just loading old bad trees onto the site, often for people who often never existed. They have no documentation attached. Don't copy copiers. That's the website where "Capt." first appeared in front of John's name. No documentation, just a submittal and now he's a Capt. of the Navy in some trees. No images of any of these people.

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The 4-part "Family Data Collections" series,

the Millennium file,

marriage "records",

etc.,

are databases/indexes, not historical docs/recs.

Much info for various Hints was "extracted" by programed computer sweeps through submittals from people who often were just name collectors. If the marriage "record" doesn't have an exact date, exact location, first and maiden name of the bride, and isn't from a parish, county or known source of marriage records from an era then don't copy it.

Don't copy family trees from

Ancestry.com,

American Ancestors,

WikiTree,

Geni,

MyHeritage,

Geneanet,

FamilySearch,

especially contributed Genealogy files that source IGI, AF, PRF,

or any tree anywhere on the internet that isn't sourced with actual records. The words GEDCOM and "Family Trees" are not a valid contemporaneous primary source.

None of the websites check

birth/marriage/death records,

images,

stories, or

databases,

indexes

hints,

other trees or

comments

for accuracy.

---------------------

There are no known images of Stephen Hopkins of the Mayflower. Most images saved on trees are supposed to be the Stephen Hopkins (1707-1785) who signed the Declaration of Independence from Rhode Island. No known relationship to the Mayflower Hopkins. Google Images is not a good source for most of these people since so few had portraits done. Stephen has about 10 different people with his name there. None are him.

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For his acknowledged first 5 generations from The Pilgrim Hopkins Heritage Society based on the Silver Books:

They have his death date listed as the date his will was proved but the rest of the next few generations are pretty accurate (except we do not know the exact date of death of Eliz I, Oceanus, Damaris I or Caleb. Should show "before" or "after" for more accuracy like Ruth and Elizabeth do.

No,

Thomas Jefferson and

Ulysses S Grant

are NOT descendants.

Check out his grandkids. Many trees have wrong children for Constance Hopkins and Nicholas Snow (who wasn't bapt. 25 Jan 1599/1600. That child was buried 3 days later.)

THE MAYFLOWER "SILVER BOOKS" (color of the hard covers) are considered the gold standard for information that can be used to apply for the Mayflower Society. If a child or grandchild isn't listed (check the updated editions) then The Mayflower Society, NEHGS, and Hopkins, Mayflower, and Massachusetts researchers and scholars don't recognize them. Be sure you check the latest Volume!

Repeat please:

There are no known images, drawings, painting, photographs, or portraits of Stephen Hopkins of the Mayflower.

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17 Feb 2021: John Traynor kindly volunteered to transfer this memorial. Please send documentation with any edits you have. Thanks for your help.