Gov. John WINTHROP

Other Events and Attributes:

• Birth: 12 Jan 1587/8

Notes:

Name:
Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor. He was instrumental in leading the first large wave of colonists from England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the first major settlement in New England after the Plymouth Colony. He was born at Edwardstone, Suffolk, England, to a wealthy landowning and merchant family. In December 1602, he was admitted to Trinity College but soon left and married his first wife, Mary Forth, in April 1605. During this time, he became deeply religious in the Puritan faith. In 1613, he received the family holdings in Groton, and became Lord of the Manor there. He soon followed his father's path as a lawyer in London, having been enrolled at Gray's Inn to study law. In 1624, Charles I ascended the English throne and was opposed to all religious groups who did not ascribe to the doctrine of the Church of England. In March 1629, Charles I dissolved the English Parliament and his continued religious intolerance and crackdown on the Puritans resulted in a decision for the some of the leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Company (who were mostly Puritans) to emigrate to New England. Winthrop was chosen as governor and on April 8, 1630, he sailed from the Isle of Wight with four ships that were part of a larger fleet of 11 ships, carrying 700 people to New England, arriving at Salem in June. They chose to settle at the present-day city of Boston, near the Charles River. In the early months the colony struggled with disease, losing about 200 people, including his son, Henry. He served as governor of the colony for 12 of its first 20 years of existence, being elected on four different occasions. He was generally civil and diplomatic towards the Native American population. However, cultural differences and trade issues, along with land ownership rights of the colonists that conflicted with the hunter-gatherer rights of the natives eventually evolved into a war with the Pequot tribe in 1637, which ended with the destruction of the tribe, whose survivors were sold as slaves to the West Indies or became enslaved by the colonists themselves. During his life, he continuously wrote accounts of historical events and religious manifestations. His major contributions to the literary world were "A Modell of Christian Charity" (1630) and "The History of New England" (1630-1649; also known as "The History of John Winthrop"), which remained unpublished until the late 18th century. He was married four times and had 16 children, his first three wives preceding him in death. He died of natural causes. (bio by: William Bjornstad)

John married Mary FORTH on 16 Apr 1605 in Edwardstone, Suffolk, England. Mary was born on 1 Jan 1590 in Great Stambridge, Essex, England; died on 26 Jun 1615 in Groton, Suffolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Margaret TYNDAL on 28 Apr 1618. Margaret (daughter of Sir John TYNDAL, Knt. and Anna EGERTON) was born about 1591; died on 14 Jun 1647 in Boston, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Thomasine CLOPTON on 6 Dec 1615. Thomasine (daughter of William CLOPTON, Esq. and Margaret WALDEGRAVE) was christened on 18 Feb 1583 in Groton; was buried on 11 Dec 1616 in Buried Groton with her infant child. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name:
Colonial Royal Governor. he was the first Royal Governor of Connecticut serving in 1657, and from 1659 to his death in 1676.

Migrated to New England the first time aboard the 'Lyon', November 1631, age 25, as the head of a group consisting of his first wife, Martha, sister Mary, step-mother Margaret (Tyndal) Winthrop, and half-brother, Adam (youngest half sister Anne, age about a year and half, died at sea a week after their departure from England), and the widow and infant daughter of his brother Henry Winthrop, joining his father Gov. John Winthrop and brothers Stephen and Samuel who had come in the Winthrop Fleet at Boston. His brother Henry had drowned on arrival at Salem in July 1630. Settled at Boston, became a founder of Agawam (Ipswich), later of Saybrook, Pequot (New London), New Have and Hartford, Connecticut.

After the death of his first wife and daughter at Ipswich, John sailed back to England in 1634 'in the winter time, in a small and weak ship, bound for Barnstaple, were driven by foul weather upon the coast of Ireland...and were brought, through many desperate dangers, into Gallway.' From there he went to Dublin, Antrim, into Scotland and England 'and all the way he met with persons of quality, whose thoughts were towards New England, who observed his coming among them as a special providence of God.'

He second arrival in Boston was on the 'Abigail' in October 1635 after ten weeks from Plymouth, England. This time John brought his new wife, Elizabeth, and half-brother Deane Winthrop, about 12. His step-father-in-law, Rev. Hugh Peter was also a passenger. John subsequently was governor of the plantation of Saybrook for a year. In August 1641 he sailed the second time out of New England for London, where he stayed for more than two years. His third trip to New England began at Gravesend in May 1643 but with many delays did not arrive in the colonies until that autumn.

Having obtained grants in the Pequot lands of Connecticut, John eventually removed from Massachusetts, settled at New London, and shortly later became governor of the Connecticut Colony. He made his third trip back to England in 1661, where he obtained the Royal charter for Connecticut, and returned on his fourth and final trip from England to New England in 1663.

John married Martha FONES on 8 Feb 1630/1 in Groton, England. Martha (daughter of Thomas FONES and Anne WINTHROP) was born in England; died in Aug or Sep 1634. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Elizabeth READE on 6 Jul 1635 in St. Matthew, Firday Street, London, England. Elizabeth was born in 1615 in Wickford, Essex, England; died on 24 Nov 1672 in Hartford, Hartford Co., Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name:
Henry Winthrop did not accompany his father to America in 1629 but followed him on the "Talbott", arriving at Salem on July 2, 1630. On the same day, seeing a small boat across a bay he attempted to swim over to it but , being seized by cramps, was drowned in full sight of his friends, none of whom was able to swim. The young widow was still in England, having given birth on May 9, 1630 to a daughter who was christened with a double name, Martha Johanna, unusual for this period...

Henry married Elizabeth Winthrop FONES on 25 Apr 1629. Elizabeth (daughter of Thomas FONES and Anne WINTHROP) was born on 21 Jan 1609/10 in Groton, co Suffolk, England; died on 1 Feb 1673 in Astoria, Queens County, New York; was buried in Hallett's Burying Ground,Astoria, Queens Co., New York. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Birth: Abt 1612, Groton Manor, Suffolk, England
• Immigration: 12 Jun 1630, To Plymouth on the ship "Arbella" with Gov. Winthrop

Mary married Rev Samuel DUDLEY in 1632 in Massachusetts, USA. Samuel (son of Gov. Thomas DUDLEY and Dorothy YORKE) was born in Canon's Ashby, Northamptonshire, England; was christened on 30 Nov 1608 in Northampton, Northamptonshire, England; died on 10 Feb 1682/3 in Exeter, New Hampshire; was buried on 10 Feb 1682 in Exeter, Rockingham, New Hampshire. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Judith RAINSBOROUGH. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Adam married Elizabeth GLOVER in Feb 1642. Elizabeth died in 1648. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Elizabeth HAWKINS. Elizabeth was christened in May 1629 in Saint Dunstan, Stepney, London, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Deane married Sarah GLOVER about 1645. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Martha ?. Martha was born about 1630; died after 6 May 1706. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Education: 1646, Harvard College
• Fact: 1667-1669, Dep. Gov. of Antigua, West Indies

Samuel married Elizabeth in Jun 1648. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]