Discover the Lost History of Charlestown

The CHS is very fortunate to host Professor Roger Thompson from the University of East Anglia (UK), presenting the background to his most recent book, “From Deference to Defiance, Charlestown, 1629-1692.”

Roger recreates the lost world of 17th-century Charlestown and the lives and work of the first three generations of Charlestown residents. By using a variety of surviving records, Thompson presents a colorful history of the town’s settlement and governance, its relationship with the land and sea, the church, local crime and violence, the role of women, and ultimately its involvement in the Glorious Revolution.

Compared to other Middlesex towns, Charlestown was directly involved in the Atlantic trade—fish, furs, and timber—from its earliest days. Many inhabitants had far broader horizons than in neighboring communities. Leading citizens were often partners or agents for influential merchants in London, Bristol, and other West Country ports, as well as the Caribbean, Mediterranean, and Atlantic Wine Island traders.

With many men away at sea, and foreign seamen idling in its port, Charlestown had far more social and infidelity problems to control than other Middlesex towns.

Roger has been coming to Cambridge, MA. every summer for 30 years during which time he researched and wrote:

Sex in Middlesex: Popular Mores in a Massachusetts County, 1649–1699;

Divided we Stand, Watertown, Ma, 1630-1680;

Mobility & Migration East Anglian Founders of New England 1629-1640, and others.

The event takes place at the Bunker Hill Museum – Education Room on June 24, 2014 from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m.