Different persons left Suffolk for different reasons, just like today. Because so many of the records that have survived have a religious background, it is possible that this has been overstated as a cause. Certainly members of my family who went across the pond, did so for economic reasons - trading. What is also interesting, is that the traffic was two ways and they did sometimes return. Sometimes land was bought in America without going there. Just like now, some emigrants probably had every intention of returning to their country of origin once they made their fortune, but that is not how things worked out. And some will also have returned as emigration was not a success. So in conclusion, there were all sorts of reasons for going - and for coming back. In terms of economics in Suffolk in the 1630s, the woollen industry was on a downer, there were recurrent outbreaks of plague, and there was civil unrest. By 1635, taxes were being increased such as ship money which was demanded annually from 1635. Religion may have come into it, as Bishop Matthew Wren of Norwich (appointed 1635) was a supporter of Archbishop Laud (appointed 1633) were high church and popish. But the date you are talking about is prior to this by a year or two, so I would suggest that this was less of an issue in Suffolk which (generalising completely) was relatively protestant in outlook and a decade later were for the parliamentary side. In the book A History of Suffolk, by David Diamond and Peter Northeast, they only mention that 650 persons left Suffolk to New England, mainly during the period 1629-1638. As many again came from Norfolk and Essex. The main driver was economics, as wages were low - or at least that is what Winthrop claimed. Religious reasons were greater by the end of the 1630s - and then there was the civil war by the 1640s. There are some shipping returns for this early period, such as the various swearing of certificates of religious conformity which was often required for such travels. I suspect that for the America's these have been fully checked out by NEHGS, so it is probably worthwhile checking their excellent records. However I have not tried researching these sources. Wishing you every success in your researches Giles Colchester, Researching COLCHESTER family, any spelling, any time, any place And PACKARD in Suffolk Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2012 11:23:45 -0400 (EDT) From: [email protected] Subject: [SFK-UK] What was the reason people left Suffolk in 1630's To: [email protected] Was it religion, hard times, etc? My Smith relatives supposedly came to US in 1632 and settled in Massachusetts. The Hunts were also from Suffolk area as was the Governor of Massachusetts. Is there a list some place of the people who left England or are the only records the ones of people who arrived in US.