John Singleton Copley sails from from Boston aboard the Thomas.

[5/17] Leaving his pregnant wife and three children behind, he later writes, “[In London, I found] so much Civility . . . more than equil to all I have ever received in Boston in my whole life.” Copley’s wife and family sail from Boston to join him in London in May 1775, and he never returns to the city of his birth. Copley’s half-brother, artist Henry Pelham, remains in Boston for a short time, allegedly working as a spy for General Gage, before he too leaves for England, never to return. Copley’s son becomes an English lord and his daughter subsequently marries a wealthy merchant and moves back to Boston.