The English city of Plymouth has become synonymous with the Pilgrim Fathers who are said to have sailed from there in 1620, headed for the New World, where they set up a colony and named it after the Devon town they had left behind.

So it is to Plymouth that many flock to seek out ancestors who might have been on, or connected with, the epic voyage of 400 years ago. Unfortunately, for the ancestor hunters, their own voyages of discovery usually end in disappointment, for one good reason: they are looking in the wrong place.

The Mayflower actually had only a brief passing connection with Plymouth and, if ancestors are to be found, they are more likely to be in East Anglia or South London. And if you thought the Founding Fathers aboard the Mayflower were the first American colonists, think again.

The story of the Mayflower, its origins and how it came to be the ship that took the colonists to America starts in the North Essex town of Harwich. It was close to this town that the Mayflower was built, it was here that the ship was registered and it’s where the Mayflower’s captain lived. At 21 King’s Head Street, close to the harbour in Harwich, a 16th Century house bears a plaque stating: ‘The home of Captain Christopher Jones, Master of the Mayflower.’ Today, it’s a privately-owned house.

A short walk from the house is St Nicholas’s Church. A church has stood on this site since 1177, and it was here that Captain Jones was twice married, once in 1593 and again, after his first wife died, in 1603.

It’s no coincidence that both Captain Jones and the Mayflower came from this part of Essex. Much of England’s shipbuilding at this time was based in East Anglia, and the Mayflower was one among many ships built in the area.

Captain Jones was born in 1570, the son of a mariner and ship owner. He rose to become a man of prominence in the local community and, in 1607, with three business partners, he purchased the Mayflower. Taking on the role of its master, he sailed it on trading missions to France, Norway, Spain and Germany before being hired to make the epic journey to America.

But he wasn’t the first Essex man to make the crossing. In 1607, Seaman and Privateer Christopher Newport, who was also born in Harwich, commanded three ships that took 144 passengers, many from Essex, to Chesapeake Bay where they established the settlement of Jamestown, named in honour of King James I. Newport’s name is commemorated on one many wall plaques around Harwich, bringing you information about people and events for which the town is famous.

A walk through Harwich reveals more evidence of the Mayflower connection: a road, restaurant, taxi company, school and medical centre are all named after the ship; and at Dedham Vale Vineyard in nearby Colchester, they brew a pale straw-coloured wine called Mayflower.

There are also many murals on walls around the town that commemorate the voyage. One depicts what Captain Jones might have looked like, along with his ship and house. Another shows the signing of the Mayflower Compact, a ceremony which took place during the original voyage, and which many believe was a forerunner of the American Constitution.

Then there’s the Mayflower Project, a group of local enthusiasts who right now are building a replica of the famous ship with the intention of sailing it to America in 2020 to replicate the original journey and commemorate its 400th anniversary.

In 1611 Christopher Jones moved to Rotherhithe, then a parish of Surrey, but now part of the London Borough of Southwark. This area of South London marks the next important location for those chasing Mayflower ancestors.

The first stopping off point must be the pub at 117 Rotherhithe Street. One clue to its relevance in the Mayflower story can be seen on its rooftop: a weather vane in the shape of the famous ship. The pub has been called The Mayflower since 1957. Before that, it was the Spread Eagle and Crown, but in 1620 it was The Shippe Inn.

According to popular myth, Captain Jones tied up the Mayflower alongside the pub to avoid paying mooring taxes. Today, if you walk down the steps to the left of the pub entrance, you emerge onto the foreshore where a jetty would have taken passengers and crewmen on board.

The area around Rotherhithe in the 1600s attracted many outspoken dissenters who refused to conform to the official line of the Anglian Church. These separatists who had broken away from the Church of England would have seen a lot of traffic up and down the river, as ships left for foreign climes. Add to this the presence of a renowned sea captain within their community and it is hardly surprising that he was approached to take the religious rebels to a place where they might start a new life in the New World.

Captain Jones selected his crew from local mariners and in August 1620, with the first wave of passengers on board, the Mayflower left the steps close to what is today the Mayflower pub, bound for Southampton on the first leg of its historic voyage.

As they left Southampton, not expecting to see dry land again for several months, the Mayflower was accompanied by a sister ship called the Speedwell which had brought more emigrants from the Netherlands. Unfortunately the Speedwell soon began to leak, forcing the two ships to return to Dartmouth for repairs, before setting off again. About 300 miles out to sea the Speedwell once more began to leak, so this time they returned to Plymouth which, being west of both Dartmouth and Southampton, made a more convenient port of call. Here, the Speedwell’s cargo and many of its passengers were transferred to the already crowded Mayflower which then, for the third time, set sail for the New World.

So, despite its legendary connections with the voyage, and its place in American culture, the Mayflower had only a brief stay in Plymouth, and then only because the Speedwell proved to be unseaworthy.

After the journey, Christopher Jones returned to Rotherhithe, where he died in 1622. He and two of his business partners were buried in a local church, where his children had also been baptised. That church, which dated to the 12th century, no longer exists. But the present Church of St Mary the Virgin, which was built on the same spot in 1716, has three memorials to the captain and the voyage. It’s in St Marychurch Street which, appropriately enough, is just round the corner to Mayflower Street.

It’s a fine church, built to seat a congregation of 1,000 people, and

designed by British architect John James, an associate of Sir Christopher Wren, the man who designed St Paul’s Cathedral.

Commemorating the voyage and its crew, a plaque on the wall of the church tower states: “In 1620 the Mayflower sailed from Rotherhithe on the first stage of its epic voyage to America. In command was Captain Christopher Jones of Rotherhithe.” Inside the church, another memorial tablet which was erected on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the consecration of the church, states: “The Mayflower. Christopher Jones, Master and part owner, was buried in this churchyard, 5th March 1622.”

The exact location of the graves of Captain Jones and his business partners is unknown, but in the churchyard, there is yet another memorial, this one in the shape of a statue, showing the Mayflower Captain holding a small child. He is depicted looking back towards England, while the child is looking forward towards America. The statue, which was unveiled in 1995, is by designer and public art sculptor Jamie Sargeant.

Rotherhithe’s final memorial to the voyage of the Mayflower stands at Cumberland Wharf, a short walk along Rotherhithe Street, east of the Mayflower pub. In a corner of this small square overlooking the river there stands a statue of a Pilgrim and a small boy.

Although it’s pretty much certain today that the Pilgrims didn’t wear the smocks and tall hats with which they have become habitually associated, that’s the way the statue is traditionally dressed. The boy, rather incongruously, is dressed in the style of a 1930s newsboy. He is reading a newspaper, called the Sunshine Weekly, whose sculpted pages tell the story of the Mayflower and all that has happened in America since 1620.

The voyage is shown in a comic strip on one page, the other showing images of America through the ages since: a cowboy, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, American cars, a US soldier and more. The Pilgrim is standing ghost-like, reading the paper and pointing to a page over the boy’s shoulder, while a small dog leaps around their feet.

In a further deliberate anachronism, the Pilgrim’s pocket contains a copy of the A-Z street map of London which, despite not coming into being until the 1930s, is dated 1620. His pocket also contains a crucifix and a lobster’s claw, while various tools – scissors, hammer, pliers and a paintbrush – are shown at the boy’s feet. The statue was commissioned in 1991. Called Sunshine Weekly and the Pilgrim’s Pocket, it was produced by sculptor Peter McClean.

Meanwhile in Plymouth, you can see the Mayflower Steps, from where the Pilgrim fathers finally, after a few false starts, set sail for North America. Even if Plymouth cannot lay claim to having as many Mayflower connections as Harwich and Rotherhithe, at least it lives on as the name of the place in America where the Pilgrim Fathers landed. Well, yes and no.

The fact is that the place where the emigrants set up their colony had already been named New Plymouth (also known as Plimouth or Plimoth) by English soldier and explorer Captain John Smith. The name was one among many based on English counties, towns and cities, used to replace original native names. It first appeared on maps in 1616, four years before the arrival of the Mayflower and its passengers. Since the place from which they had sailed in England was coincidentally also called Plymouth, they elected to retain the name for their settlement.

Sorry, Plymouth. That’s one more Mayflower myth exploded.