If the farmer or Londoner is down-on-his-luck, he would probably go as an indentured servant (by this time slaves were beginning to be preferred to indentured servants, but indentured servitude was quite common). That means he would get his passage paid for in return for being bound to a labor contract in the Americas (usually 5-7 years). A passage to the Americas was about 4 pounds, which was a fair amount of money.

Of course, he’d bring whatever he could take with him, but it would be modest by our standards. Consumerism as we know it hadn’t really started yet, so he might have a few shirts and other articles of clothing, perhaps a spoon and knife and a few other dishes, maybe some books (if literate), etc.

Why would a nobleman want a vacation home in the Americas? His home in England was likely much grander than anything in the colonies. He would be much more interested in purchasing a plantation and letting his overseer run it and send him the profits.

A book to start with on migration during this period is David Cressy, “Coming Over.”