Thomas Dudley (October 12, 1576 – July 31, 1653) was a colonial magistrate who served several terms as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Early years
He was born in Northampton, England, the son of Capt. Roger Dudley and Susanna Thorne. Many have written that Roger Dudley was a scion of the noble Dudley family, descendants of John Sutton, 1st Baron Dudley. The exact connection remains a subject of contention[1], reignited every few years by a new theory.[2] Dudley's mother, Susanna Thorne, was descended from Henry II of England through her Purefoy ancestors. Thomas Dudley's father was killed at the Battle of Ivry, orphaning the young Thomas at the age of fourteen. He entered the service of several wealthy patrons, and was introduced to Puritanism in the late 1590s.
In the 30 years between his conversion and his eventual emigration with the Winthrop Fleet, Dudley served as steward to Theophilus, Earl of Lincoln, and apparently performed an exemplary job in solving the Earl's financial difficulties.
Massachusetts Bay Colony
In 1629, with tensions between the Puritans and the English government high, Dudley was chosen as one of the five officers to travel to the Americas under the Royal Charter. He was elected deputy governor; John Winthrop was elected governor. Traveling on the Arbella, the flagship of the Winthrop Fleet, Dudley arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630. Perhaps due to his touchy nature, he clashed almost immediately with John Winthrop over the location of the seat of government of the new colony.[3]
Dudley served as governor in 1634, 1640, 1645, and 1650. Throughout most of the other years of his time in Massachusetts, he served as deputy governor.
Dudley's letter “To the Right Honourable, My very good Lady, The Lady Bridget, Countess of Lincoln”, written in March 1631, narrated the first year’s experience of those “planters” who came over in Winthrop’s fleet of 1630. It appeared in print for the first time in the 1696 compilation, by Joshua Scottow, MASSACHUSETTS: or The first Planters of New-England, The End and Manner of their coming thither, and Abode there: In several EPISTLES (1696).
It was Dudley who signed the charter creating Harvard College when he was Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.[4]
Family and property
Thomas Dudley married Dorothy Yorke in 1603, she died sometime before his next marriage which was in 1644. He then married secondly Katherine Deighton in 1644. His children include Rev. Samuel Dudley of Exeter, Gov. Joseph Dudley and the poet Anne Bradstreet.
The ancestral Dudley Castle (which may or may not be related to his line) is located at 52°30′50.89″N 2°4′47.62″W / 52.5141361, -2.0798944.
Descendants of Thomas Dudley
Thomas Dudley and his descendents.
Thomas Dudley may have been a descendant of the Sutton Dudley clan of England, descended from Joan of Acre daughter of King Edward I of England and his wife Eleanor of Castile.
Descendants of his son Joseph Dudley married to Rebecca Tyng
Descendants of his daughter Anne Dudley married to Simon Bradstreet
Descendants of his daughter Mercy Dudley married to John Woodbridge
Descendants of his daughter Patience Dudley married to Daniel Denison
Descendants of his son Rev. Samuel Dudley married first to Mary Winthrop (son of John Winthrop), second to Mary Byley, and third to Elizabeth Smith
See also
Notes
External links
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