    thomas dudley (12 october 1576 â 31 july 1653) was a 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 was opposed to 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 organize the establishment of 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 descendants include his daughter anne bradstreet (1612â1672), the prominent early american poet, and many famous americans. one of the gates of harvard yard, torn down in the 20th century, was named in his honor, and harvard's dudley house is named for the family. ==early years== thomas dudley was born in yardley hastings, a village near northampton, england, on 12 october 1576, to roger and susanna (thorne) dudley.anderson, p. 584 his father, a captain in the english army, was apparently killed in battle. it was for some time believed he was killed in the 1590 battle of ivry,jones, p. 3 but this is unlikely because susanna dudley was later found to be 
1576_births 1653_deaths 16th-century_English_people 17th-century_American_people 17th-century_English_people American_Puritans Colonial_governors_of_Massachusetts Dudley_family DudleyaWinthrop_family Harvard_University_people Lieutenant_Governors_of_colonial_Massachusetts New_England_Puritanism People_from_Boston,_Massachusetts People_from_Northamptonshire People_from_colonial_Boston,_Massachusetts People_of_the_Stuart_period People_of_the_Tudor_period