Thomas Dudley

Thomas Dudley ( born October 12, 1576 Northampton, England; † July 31, 1653 in Boston, Massachusetts) was colonial magistrate and several times governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. During his tenure, he fell several times violently with his rival John Winthrop together. Dudley was the founder of Newtowne, now Cambridge, and built the first house there. As governor, he signed the Memorandum of Harvard College. According to him, the Thomas Dudley Gate was named the Dudley House at Harvard College as well.

Early years

Dudley was the son of Captain Roger Dudley and Susanna Thorne in Northampton in England. Many historians are of the opinion, Roger Dudley was a descendant of John Sutton, the first Baron Dudley. The exact Verdi extension is, however, debatable. Dudley's mother, Susanna Thorne, was a descendant of Henry II of England. His father was killed at the battle of Ivry and Dudley was at the age of 14 for half-orphans. In the late 1590s he joined the Puritans. Over the next 30 years he worked until the departure of the fleet of John Winthrop as an administrator for Theophilus Clinton, the fourth Earl of Lincoln.

Time the Massachusetts Bay Colony

As in 1629, tensions between the Puritans and the English government reached its peak, Dudley was selected as one of five officers, to sail to America. He was appointed deputy commander of the fleet under the command of John Winthrop. With the flagship Arbella Dudley landed in 1630 in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Immediately upon arrival, the only dispute between him and John Winthop, which concerned the seat of government of the new colony developed.

Dudley was governor of the colony in 1634, 1640, 1645 and in 1650. In the remaining time he was deputy governor. In his letter "To the Right Honourable, My very good Lady, The Lady Bridget, Countess of Lincoln ," he described in March 1631, the first year of the colonists.