John Winthrop (1588-1649, age 61), an English Puritan lawyer and the leading figure in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony, led the first immigrants from England in 1630 and served as this colony’s governor for 12 of the colony’s first 20 years.
On April 8, 1630, four ships left the Isle of Wight carrying Winthrop and other leaders of the colony including Thomas Dudley. Winthrop sailed on the Arbella. The ships were part of a larger fleet totaling 11 ships that carried about 700 migrants to the colony
Between 1629 and his death in 1649, he served 18 annual terms as governor or lieutenant-governor and was a force of comparative moderation in the religiously conservative colony, clashing with the more conservative Thomas Dudley and the more liberal Roger Williams and Henry Vane.
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