Myles Standish Commemoration Stone
From Standish Wiki
The Myles Standish Commemoration Stone is to be found outside Standish Library.
The stone is to commemorate Myles Standish a well-known figure from English history, but although he is clearly associated with our township, there is nothing to recognise this link.
One of the best remembered dates in English history is that of the sailing of the Pilgrim Fathers in 1620. The Captain of the Guard on their ship, the Mayflower, was Captain Myles Standish (1584-1656), and although it is a romantic notion to consider him as one of our own, there is much conjecture concerning the branch of the Standish Family from which Myles came. What is not in doubt however, is the fact that Myles Standish, “this valiant man to whom history and the free world owe so much”, was instrumental in setting up the pilgrims’ colony after landing at Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Later, Myles and some of the pilgrim families moved further north, and their new settlement was named Duxbury. This name was probably chosen by Myles because he may have thought himself descended from the Duxbury branch of the Standish family.
Of course, Captain Standish died and was buried in New England, and although you will find a huge statue and a prominent grave in Massachusetts, there is little to commemorate him in the land of his birth.
The granite stone was selected from one of their quarries and transported to Cross Street by Ainscough’s Engineering Services Ltd. En route, it was sandblasted by M. W. Rainford & Son on the Bradley Hall estate. The labour and stone chippings at the base came courtesy of volunteers from within the community and the plaque has been provided courtesy of Ainscough’s and manufactured by an ‘old Standisher’.
The Standish Community Forum would like to offer its sincere thanks to all those who contributed to this project.
