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Some of the persons involved had previously received a charter in 1606 as the Plymouth Company and had founded the shortlived Popham Colony within the territory of northern Virginia (actually in present-day Maine in the United States). The company had fallen into disuse following the abandonment of the 1607 colony.
In the new 1620 charter granted by James I, the company was given rights of settlement in the area now designated as New England and Former Acadia in Canada, which was the land previously owned by the Virginia Colony north of the 40th parallel, and extending to the 48th parallel (thus including all of present day New Brunswick and Nova Scotia aka "Acadia") Unlike the previous charter, the new charter specified colonial rights of the company "from sea to sea".
Unlike the original Plymouth Company, the Plymouth Council was more successful. The first settlement in the area owned by the council was the Plymouth ColonyThe Plymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 until 1691. The colony was founded by a separatist Puritan sect, who obtained a land patent from the London Virginia Company in 1620 before that company was dissolved. They fou in present day Plymouth, Massachusetts, although the council did not inititate the Plymouth Colony.
After the success of the Plymouth settlement, much of the rest of the company's territory was given away in further grants to other colonial ventures, notably: the Massachusetts Bay Company in 1628, and the MaineThe Province of Maine refers to several English colonies of that name that existed in the 17th century along the northeast coast of North America, at times roughly encompassing portions of the present-day U. states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, as wel to Sir Ferdinando GorgesFerdinando Gorges ( 1565- 1647) was an early English colonial entrepreneur in North America and founder of the Province of Maine in 1622. Gorges was born in Ashton Phillips, Somerset, England. In 1601, he became involved in the Essex Conspiracy and later and John MasonCaptain John Mason ( 1586 1635) was born in Norfolk. He was a sailor, explorer, cartographer and colonizer and appointed the second Proprietary Governor of Newfoundland's Cuper's Cove colony in 1615, succeeding John Guy. Mason arrived on the island in 161 in 1622.
The Plymouth Council is not to be confused with the Plymouth ColonyThe Plymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 until 1691. The colony was founded by a separatist Puritan sect, who obtained a land patent from the London Virginia Company in 1620 before that company was dissolved. They fou, which was established in 1620 on land owned by the Council under invalid patents from the London CompanyThe London Company (also called the Virginia Company of London was an English joint stock company established by royal charter by James I on April 10 1606 with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America. It was one of two such compa. The colony obtained land patents from the Council in 1621 and in 1630, but was governed independently from the Council under the Mayflower CompactThe Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was drafted by the Pilgrims while they were still aboard the Mayflower and prior to their disembarking. It was signed on November 11, 1620 in what is now Provincetown Harbor nea.