Background
Bushrode was the son of John Bushrode, husbandman of Sherborne, Dorset and his wife Margery Feltons.
Bushrode was the son of John Bushrode, husbandman of Sherborne, Dorset and his wife Margery Feltons.
He was baptised on 3 February 1576 in Sherborne. He became a haberdasher at Dorchester and was also a merchant adventurer carrying on a trade in fishing for cod and bartering furs from New England which he sold in England and France. He was persuaded by White that a colony could established from the men employed to double man his ships for fishing purposes and they formed a plan to leave them on the coast to grow crops and live off the land so they could rejoin the fishing fleet next season.
White thought this could become a larger colony and a refuge for those suffering religious persecution.
Bushrode and White formed the Dorchester Company together with other friends and traders. Bulstrode acted as the company"s representative in applying for a patent to settle a plantation in New England which was granted by the Council for New England on 18 February 1623.
Bulstrode became a man of substance in Dorchester owning properties in various parts of Dorset. He was re-elected Member of Parliament for Dorchester in 1626.
The Dorchester Company failed in 1626 as did some of Bushrode"s other business ventures, but he, White and others persisted in setting up the foundations for the New England Company.
Bushrode died in 1628 at the age of 52. Bushrode married Dorthy Watts.
Happy Parliament; 2nd Parliament of King Charles I]
In 1624, he was elected Member of Parliament for Dorchester.