Decline
Popham Colony fared better than Jamestown in the cold winter of 1607, and their president, George Popham, was the only colonist who died.[7] Fifty colonists returned to England that December. Leadership fell to second-in-command Raleigh Gilbert for six months, until a supply ship in autumn 1608 brought news that he had inherited a title and land in England following his brother's death. The ship also brought news about the death of Sir John Popham, a major investor in the Plymouth Company. When Gilbert left for England on the returning ship, the discouraged colonists followed him, abandoning Popham Colony.[8][9]
Beyond crises of leadership, the colony faced poor relationships with local Native Americans and were unable to trade with nearby tribes. The colony was also burdened with few natural resources to exploit and few skilled workers to take advantage of them.[9] Even their time of arrival, two months later than the settlers of Jamestown, gave them less time to prepare for the harsh Maine winter. Unlike Jamestown, colonists abandoned Popham Colony before they found a resource or product to profit from. They did, however, produce the first ship built by English colonists in the Americas, the Virginia of Sagadahoc.[8] Despite failing to establish a permanent settlement, the knowledge of local peoples and geography proved useful for future colonial endeavors under the Council for New England.[10]
The Popham Colony was abandoned in 1608. In 1620, after years of disuse, the Plymouth Company was revived and reorganized as the Plymouth Council for New England with a new charter, the New England Charter of 1620.[11] The Plymouth Company had 40 patentees at that point, and established the Council for New England to oversee their efforts, but it stopped operating in 1624.
The Council for New England was not dissolved until 1635 and issued several patents after 1624, including one to John Mason for New Hampshire and to New Plymouth Colony with the Bradford patent of 1630.
