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Thomas Dudley (October 12, 1576&_160;– July 31, 1653) was a colonial magistrate who served several terms as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, during which he sometimes clashed with his rival John Winthrop. Dudley was the chief founder of Newtowne, later Cambridge, Massachusetts, and built the town's first home. As Governor, Dudley signed the Charter creating Harvard College. Thomas Dudley Gate at Harvard College was named in his honor, as is the non-residential Dudley House. Dudley's descendants were early governors, ministers, judges, as well as the nation's first poet. 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.[3] 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 Clinton, 4th Earl of Lincoln, a job often delegated to promising young men of ambition, good lineage and little money. Apparently Dudley performed an exemplary job in the Earl's service, the financial mess the Earl had gotten himself into having eased due to Dudley's efforts on his behalf. 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.[4]
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