Thomas Dudley

Thomas Dudley
3rd, 7th, 11th, and 14th Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
In office 1634–1635
Preceded by	John Winthrop
Succeeded by	John Haynes
In office 1640–1641
Preceded by	John Winthrop
Succeeded by	Richard Bellingham
In office 1645–1646
Preceded by	John Endecott
Succeeded by	John Winthrop
In office 1650–1651
Preceded by	John Endecott
Succeeded by	John Endecott
Commissioner for Massachusetts Bay
In office 1643–1643 Serving with John Winthrop
In office 1647–1647 Serving with John Endicott
In office 1649–1649 Serving with Simon Bradstreet
Personal details
Born	12 October 1576 Yardley Hastings, Northamptonshire, England
Died	31 July 1653(1653-07-31) (aged 76) Roxbury, Massachusetts Bay Colony
Spouses	Dorothy Yorke ​ ​ (m. 1582; died 1643)​ Katherine Hackburne ​ (m. 1644)​
Parent	Roger Dudley (father)
Profession	Colonial administrator, governor
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Kingdom of England
Branch/service	Forces of William Compton, 1st Earl of Northampton
Battles/wars	French Wars of Religion Siege of Amiens (1597)

Thomas Dudley (12 October 1576 – 31 July 1653) was a New England colonial magistrate who served several terms as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Dudley was the chief founder of Newtowne, later Cambridge, Massachusetts, and built the town's first home. He provided land and funds to establish the Roxbury Latin School and signed Harvard College's new charter during his 1650 term as governor. Dudley was a devout Puritan who opposed religious views not conforming with his. In this, he was more rigid than other early Massachusetts leaders like John Winthrop, but less confrontational than John Endecott.

The son of a military man who died when he was young, Dudley saw military service himself during the French Wars of Religion, and then acquired some legal training before entering the service of his likely kinsman, the Earl of Lincoln. Along with other Puritans in Lincoln's circle, Dudley helped establish the Massachusetts Bay Colony, sailing with Winthrop in 1630. Although he served only four one-year terms as governor of the colony, he was regularly in other positions of authority.

Dudley's daughter Anne Bradstreet (1612–1672) was a prominent early American poet. One of the gates of Harvard Yard, which existed from 1915 to 1947, was named in his honor, and Harvard's Dudley House is named for the family, as is the town of Dudley, Massachusetts.