AN American descendant of a passenger on the famous Mayflower voyage has donated a silver commemorative plate which is now set to be displayed in a new welcome centre.

Harwich’s historic Mayflower ship - captained by the town’s Christopher Jones - took the Pilgrim Fathers to America in 1620.

To mark the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower’s sail across the Atlantic a programme of events is being planned across 11 British destinations, including Harwich.

In the week after Thanksgiving last year Susan Hopkins, from New York, got in contact with the Historic Harwich website offering to donate the pristine condition sterling silver commemorative plate, with the Mayflower logo in the centre, to the town. The plate is one of only a few manufactured in 1978.

Susan is a member of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants as a direct descendant of Stephen Hopkins and William Brewster, who voyaged to America on the Mayflower. She offered the plate to go on permanent display in Harwich.

Her grandfather, Wallace Hopkins, attended the 350th anniversary festivities in 1970 in Leiden and Plymouth as a member of the Mayflower Society, while her father Richard Gilpin Hopkins, a retired naval officer, had a plaque made for the Mayflower Monument in Southampton in 1977 in honour of Stephen Hopkins and his family.

Susan said: “In recognition of the upcoming 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower and as a direct descendant of Stephen Hopkins and William Brewster, I am honoured to donate the silver General Society of Mayflower Descendants plate to the museum.”

The plate is now being cared for by Tendring Council, and will feature in a welcome centre it is setting up in Harwich to be home to a whole raft of historical artefacts relating to the town and its links to the Mayflower story.

Carlo Guglielmi, Tendring Council’s deputy leader, said Susan’s story was incredible to hear.

He said: “It is fascinating to discover individual stories such as these, and when you realise how some can directly trace their roots back to this iconic voyage you can begin to understand just how important the Mayflower is not just to a nation’s history, but to people alive today.

“Hearing Susan’s link to the Mayflower is very interesting, and we are enormously grateful to her for the donation of this plate which will form a fascinating part of a display on the Mayflower when the welcome centre opens later this year.”