Did you know?

It is 400 years since the first English children made a home in America.

400 years ago three small ships arrived in America. They had sailed from London on a tough voyage which lasted five months. After arriving, the passengers established what would become America's first permanent English colony -- Jamestown.

A group of young boys were on the first ships to arrive. In the following years many other boys and girls joined these trailblazers. What was life like for these child pioneers?

The Kids Page went to the Museum of London to interview Hazel Forsyth, an expert on the journey to Jamestown. We asked her about what life might have been like at the time.

The replica of the 17th century ship Godspeed, which brought the first English colonists to America, was under full sail when she cruised past the statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. ©Nasa

Only boys travelled on the first ships to Jamestown. Life was very tough for the first arrivals. Find out more by listening to Hazel Forsyth. (MP3 1 MIN 17 SEC)

This shoe is similar type of shoe that was worn by the children who traveled to Jamestown. Next to it is a ball which they might have played with. Poor children were collected from the streets of London and cared for in hospital before traveling to Virginia. Which children were chosen to go to Jamestown and why?. (MP3 4 MIN 10 SEC)

A child's leather shoe and ball. ©Museum of London

Some of the toys on display in the 'Journey to the New World' exhibition at the Museum in Docklands

Five months is a long time to spend on a small ship. What did the children do on the ships to keep busy? Did they have toys? Listen to Hazel Forsyth talk about what possessions the children might have had. (MP3 2 MIN 39 SEC) Which of toys in this picture do you think are bartholomew babies?

What were families like in the new world and who looked after the children? There were no women aboard the original ships that reached Jamestown, but the passenger list of the second supply ship of 1608 includes "Mistresse Forrest, and Anne Burras her maide". These two women were joined by others in later years. Hazel Forsyth talks about women in Jamestown. (MP3 2 MIN 39 SEC)

A 17th century posy ring. The Virginia Company dispatched single young women to Jamestown to marry planters. ©Museum of London

Pocahontas

Have you heard of Pocahontas? She is one the most well-known figures in the history of Jamestown. Pocahontas was the daughter of the Chief of the Powhatan Confederacy. She saved the life of John Smith, the president of the Jamestown colony, and went on to marry John Rolfe, an Englishman in 1614. John Rolfe took Pocahontas and their baby son to England in 1616. Pocahontas died there in 1617 without ever having returned to Jamestown. She is buried in Gravesend in Kent.

Statue of Pocahontas, Colonial National Park (National Park Service photo).

Where can I find out more?

You can see a replica of the ship Discovery in London's Museum in Docklands until 13 May 2007. The Museum at Docklands also has an exhibition on the 'Journey to the New World', also until 13 May 2007.

The British Museum is hosting "A New World: England's First View of America," an exhibit of paintings from one of the earliest voyages to Virginia. This exhibition will be open until 17 June 2007.