Thomas Tinker ( 1581–1620/21) and his wife and son were Separatists from the Netherlands who travelled on the Pilgrim Ship Mayflower in 1620. Separatists were people who did not belong to the Church of England.<ref>[http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Pilgrim 1911 Encyclopedia]</ref>Caleb H. Johnson, The Mayflower and her passengers (Indiana:Xlibris Corp., Caleb Johnson, 2006) p. 239
Early life
Most scholars believe that Tinker was born in 1581 in Norfolk, England. He moved to Leiden and became a citizen there in the early 1600s. He married in 1609 and had one son.Eugene Aubrey Stratton, Plymouth Colony: Its History and People, 1620–1691 (Salt Lake City:Ancestry Publishing 1986) p. 362
On the Mayflower
Tinker, his wife and son left Plymouth, England on 16 September 1620. There were 102 passengers and 30–40 crew. On 19 November 1620, the Mayflower reached land at Cape Cod hook. They landed on November 21. They signed the Mayflower Compact, which made rules on how they would live and treat each other. The Mayflower'' was supposed to land in the Colony of Virginia, but the ship was too damaged and they were forced to land at Cape Cod now called Provincetown Harbor. Thomas Tinker was a signer to the "Mayflower Compact".
Death of Thomas Tinker and his family
Bradford wrote they "died in the first sickness". That was in December 1620 or January 1621. Thomas Tinker and his son was buried in Cole's Hill Burial Ground in Plymouth, with many passengers who died in the early days. The place of Tinker's wife grave is unknown.