William Collier

William Collier (1671) was an English colonist in Massachusetts. He came to Plymouth Colony in 1633 as one of the few London-based Merchant Adventurers, a colony investment group, to settle in New England. He was often elected as an Assistant Governor in the thirty-some years between 1634/5 and 1665. He was on the side of the government leaders in the historic 1645 dispute with liberal religious leader William Vassall. During his long life involved in public service, he served on the Council of War and served at times as a commissioner of the United Colonies, a New England colonies military alliance primarily for defense against Indian attack. English Origins William Collier was born in England about 1585, based on the date of his marriage. He was a purveyor grocer in England being apprenticed to William Russell, becoming a member of the Grocer's Company of London on March 3, 1627/8. He was a resident of St. Olave in Southwark (London), operating a brew-house, per William Bradford's reference to a "brew-house of Mr. Collier's in London." Records show that he was also a resident St. Mary Magdalen Parish, Bermondsey (London). England - Merchant Adventurers While residing in England in 1626, Collier's signature appears on an agreement with the names of fifty-eight Purchasers, the new investment group for Plymouth Colony, replacing the previous group, the Merchant Adventurers. The colony debt would be assumed by a small new group titled "the Undertakers" composed of colony leaders. The Purchasers were privileged above all others in future colony land grants, with Collier's signature on the agreement as "Mr. Wm Collyer." In Plymouth Colony Collier and his family came to Plymouth in 1633 on an unknown ship, possibly the ship Mary and Jane, which sailed from London in March, 1633.