Governor John Winthrop ^{1 2 3 4 5}

  General Notes:

BURIAL: Kings Chapel, Boston, MA

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John Winthrop (12 January 1587/8–26 March 1649) was elected governor ofMassachusetts Bay Colony in 1629, and on 8 April 1630 he led a largeparty from England for the New World.

He was born in Edwardstone, Suffolk, England, the son of Adam Winthrop(1548–1623) and his wife, Anne Browne. Winthrop briefly attended TrinityCollege, Cambridge, then studied law at Gray's Inn, and in the 1620sbecame an attorney at the Court of Wards in London.

Winthrop was extremely religious and ascribed fervently to the Puritanbelief that the Anglican Church had to be cleansed of Catholic ritual.Winthrop was convinced that God would punish England for its heresy, andbelieved that English Puritans needed a shelter away from England wherethey could remain safe during the time of God's wrath.

Other Puritans who believed likewise obtained a royal charter for theMassachusetts Bay Company. Charles I of England was apparently unawarethat the colony was to be anything other than a commercial venture toAmerica. However, on March 4, 1629, he signed the Cambridge agreementwith his wealthier Puritan friends, essentially pledging that they wouldembark on the next voyage and found a new Puritan colony in New England.

In the Spring of 1630, Winthrop led a fleet of eleven vessels and sevenhundred passengers — The Winthrop Fleet of 1630 — to the MassachusettsBay Colony in the New World, the greatest ever assembled to carryEnglishmen overseas to a new homeland.

Winthrop had been elected governor of the colony prior to departure, in1629, and was re-elected many times. As governor he was one of the leastradical of the puritans trying to keep the number of executions forheresy to a minimum and working to prevent the implementation of suchinnovations as veiling women, which many Puritans supported.

He is most famous for his "City on a Hill" sermon (as it is knownpopularly), in which he declared that the Puritan colonists emigrating tothe New World were members of a special pact with God to create a holycommunity. This speech is often seen as a forerunner to the concept ofAmerican exceptionalism. The speech is also well known for arguing thatthe wealthy had a holy duty to look after the poor. Recent history hasshown, however, that the speech was not given much attention at the timeof its delivery. Rather than coin these concepts Winthrop was merelyrepeating what were widely held Puritan beliefs in his day.

The Town of Winthrop, Massachusetts is named after him.


Biographical Information
He married his first wife, Mary Forth, on 16 April 1605 at GreatStambridge, Essex, England. She bore him six children and died in June1615. He married his second wife, Thomasine Clopton, on 6 December 1615at Groton, Suffolk, England. She died on 8 December 1616. On 29 April1618 at Great Maplestead, Essex, England he married his third wife,Margaret Tyndal, daughter of Sir John Tyndal and his wife Anna Egerton.She gave birth to six children in England before they immigrated to NewEngland (The Governor, three of his sons, and eight servants in 1630 onthe Arbella, and his wife on the Lyon's second voyage of 1631, leavingtheir small manor behind). One of their daughters died on the Lyonvoyage. Two children were born to them in New England. Margaret died on14 June 1647 in Boston, Massachusetts. Winthrop married his fourth wife,Martha Rainsborough, widow of Thomas Coytmore, sometime after 20 December1647 and before the birth of their only child in 1648.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Winthrop"

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John married Mary Forth on 16 Apr 1605 in Great Stambridge, Essex, England.^{1 2} (Mary Forth was buried on 26 Jun 1615.)

John next married Tomasine Clopton on 6 Dec 1615 in Groton, Suffolk, England.^{1 2} (Tomasine Clopton died on 8 Dec 1616.)

John next married Margaret Tyndal before 24 Apr 1618 in Great Maplestead, Essex, England.^{1 2} (Margaret Tyndal died on 14 Jun 1647 in Boston, Suffolk Co, Massachusetts, USA.)

John next married Martha Rainsborough after 20 Dec 1647.² (Martha Rainsborough died on 24 Oct 1660.)