Scrooby Separatists

'Scrooby Separatists were a mixed congregation of early English Protestants that evolved into the group of Pilgrims who in 1620 sailed on the Mayflower to found Plymouth Colony. In the early 17th century they were living near the English town of Scrooby, on the outskirts of Bawtry, a small market town at the border of South Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. They were called "Separatists" because of their rebellion against the religious authority of the Church of England, the official state religion. In 1607/8 the Congregation emigrated to Netherlands in search of the freedom to worship as they chose. They founded the "English separatist church at Leiden", one of several English separatist groups in the Netherlands at the time.

Overview
Several church priesthood leaders and lay leaders in the area started teaching non-conformity in the period of 1604-1608. These men and their families and followers then suffered significant persecution by local church authorities, were relieved of their church duties and excommunicated by the church. There were several local groups that soon began to associate with one another, hold church meetings in private homes and then in late 1607 and early 1608 migrated to Leiden and Amsterdan to seek religious freedom.