ENGLISH MEN AND WOMEN who emigrated to Providence Island were immediately thrust into a bewildering world over which they had little control; all the inherited and learned responses and expectations appropriate to their former lives were of little value on the voyage or in their new homes. For the vast numbers who went to all the colonies as indentured servants, this experience must have been disorienting indeed, but for those who had occupied substantial and important positions in England, their sudden loss of control and status must have been savage in its impact.

Henry Halhead, leading merchant and former mayor of Banbury, and associate of Lord Saye and Sele, whose home at Broughton Castle was near Banbury, and Samuel Rishworth headed the 1632 contingent of godly settlers for Providence Island. On paper their command over the passengers on board the Charity was impressive, as was their promised status in the colony. What they found was that the plantation's inability to develop economically at the level and rate looked for created an adversarial relationship between company and settlers where both had anticipated partnership. Each party felt aggrieved. The substantial civilian planters lost not only money and security; they also were deprived of recognition and status.

Henry Halhead and Samuel Rishworth got a taste of the hardships awaiting them even before they got to Providence Island. Their wait at Plymouth was so long that the company was forced to give them £16 to tide them over. Once they were on board ship, their nightmare really began. The passengers on the Charity, despite the efforts of the adventurers to prevent such exploitation, experienced a crossing far worse than those on the Seaflower.