John Woodbridge VI (1613–1696) was an English
nonconformist
Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to:
Culture and society
* Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior
*Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity
** ...
, who emigrated to
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
. He had positions on both sides of the Atlantic, until 1663, when he settled permanently in New England.
Life
John Woodbridge VI was born at
Stanton, near
Highworth
Highworth is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, England, about northeast of Swindon town centre. The 2011 Census recorded a population of 8,151. The town is notable for its Queen Anne and Georgian buildings, dating ...
, England, in 1613 to Rev.
John Woodbridge V
John Woodbridge V (1582–1637) was rector of the parish of Stanton, near Highworth in Wiltshire, England. In his work Magnalia, Reverend Cotton Mather extolled John as "a minister so able and faithful as to obtain a high esteem among those that ...
(1582 - 1637) and Sarah Parker. John was sixth in a line of men by the same name — all ministers — the first of whom, Rev. John Woodbridge I, was a follower of
John Wycliffe
John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, biblical translator, reformer, Catholic priest, and a seminary professor at the University of O ...
, a 14th-century translator of the Bible. He studied at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
, but, objecting to the oath of conformity, left the university and studied privately until 1634, when he immigrated to America. Woodbridge took up lands at
Newbury, Massachusetts
Newbury is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, USA. The population was 6,716 at the 2020 census. Newbury includes the villages of Old Town (Newbury Center), Plum Island and Byfield. Each village is a precinct with its own voting district, ...
, where he acted as first town clerk until 19 November 1638. In 1637, 1640 and 1641 he served as deputy to the general court.
In 1641 Woodbridge of Newbury purchased the land "about Cochichewick" that had been reserved by a vote of the General Court in 1634. He led a group of settlers there in 1641. The settlers named the town
Andover
Andover may refer to:
Places Australia
* Andover, Tasmania
Canada
* Andover Parish, New Brunswick
* Perth-Andover, New Brunswick
United Kingdom
* Andover, Hampshire, England
** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station
United States
* Ando ...
because some of them came from
Andover, Hampshire
Andover ( ) is a town in the English county of Hampshire. The town is on the River Anton, a major tributary of the Test, and is situated alongside the major A303 trunk road at the eastern end of Salisbury Plain, west of the town of Basingsto ...
, in England. Woodbridge was ordained at Andover, Massachusetts on 24 October 1645 and was chosen teacher of a congregation at Newbury.
Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather (; February 12, 1663 – February 13, 1728) was a New England Puritan clergyman and a prolific writer. Educated at Harvard College, in 1685 he joined his father Increase as minister of the Congregationalist Old North Meeting H ...
said of him
The town of Andover then first peeping into the world, he was, by the hands of Mr. Wilson and Mr. Worcester, ordained the teacher of a Congregation there. There he continued with good reputation, discharging the duties of the ministry until, upon the invitation of friends, he returned once more to England.
In 1647, Woodbridge returned to England and was made chaplain to the commissioners for the
Treaty of Newport
The Treaty of Newport was a failed treaty between Parliament and King Charles I of England, intended to bring an end to the hostilities of the English Civil War. Negotiations were conducted between 15 September 1648 and 27 November 1648, at Newpo ...
, in the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...
. On this journey he carried a manuscript of poetry by his sister-in-law
Anne Bradstreet
Anne Bradstreet (née Dudley; March 8, 1612 – September 16, 1672) was the most prominent of early English poets of North America and first writer in England's North American colonies to be published. She is the first Puritan figure in Am ...
without her knowledge. He had it published in London as ''
''. The publication appears to have been an attempt by
Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...
men (
Thomas Dudley
Thomas Dudley (12 October 157631 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 tow ...
,
Simon Bradstreet
Simon Bradstreet (baptized March 18, 1603/4In the Julian calendar, then in use in England, the year began on March 25. To avoid confusion with dates in the Gregorian calendar, then in use in other parts of Europe, dates between January and Ma ...
, and Woodbridge) to show that a godly and educated woman could elevate the position held by a wife and mother, without necessarily placing her in competition with men. The publication was though unauthorized and reportedly, on the publication of Anne Bradstreet's ''The Tenth Muse'' (1650), he wrote:
I feare the displeasure of no person in the publishing of these Poems but the Author's, without whose knowledge, and contrary to her expectation, I have presumed to bring to publick view what she resolved should never in such as manner see the Sun.[.]
Woodbridge settled in New England in 1663 and became teacher and assistant pastor to his uncle Reverend
Thomas Parker, M.A. as minister at Newbury. Disagreeing with his congregation on some points of church discipline, he gave up his post in 1672 and became a magistrate of the township. He died on 17 March 1696.
[
]
Family
John Woodbridge married Mercy Dudley, daughter of Governor Thomas Dudley
Thomas Dudley (12 October 157631 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 tow ...
and sister of Anne Bradstreet
Anne Bradstreet (née Dudley; March 8, 1612 – September 16, 1672) was the most prominent of early English poets of North America and first writer in England's North American colonies to be published. She is the first Puritan figure in Am ...
, on May 20, 1639, probably in Newbury, Massachusetts
Newbury is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, USA. The population was 6,716 at the 2020 census. Newbury includes the villages of Old Town (Newbury Center), Plum Island and Byfield. Each village is a precinct with its own voting district, ...
. They had twelve children, including a son John born in 1644 who married Abigail Leete, a daughter of Connecticut Governor William Leete
William Leete (1612 or 1613 – 16 April 1683) was Governor of the Colony of New Haven from 1661 to 1665 and Governor of the Colony of Connecticut from 1676 to 1683.
Biography
Leete was born about 1612 or 1613 at Diddington, Huntingdonshire, E ...
. The town of Woodbridge, Connecticut
Woodbridge is a New England town, town in New Haven County, Connecticut, New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 9,087 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The town center is listed on the National Register of H ...
is named after one of John and Abigail's grandsons, Rev. Benjamin Woodbidge (1712-1785), a son of John Woodbridge and Jemina Eliot. Dudley Woodbridge, judge-advocate of Barbados and director-general of the Royal Assiento Company, who died on 11 February 1721, and whose portrait was painted by Kneller, was probably another son of John and Mercy Woodbridge.[
Woodbridge's younger brother Benjamin Woodbridge, who went to Massachusetts a few years after him, was the first graduate of Harvard College in 1642.
]
References
;Attribution
External links
Grave of Rev. John Woodbridge, gravematter.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodbridge, John
1613 births
1696 deaths
Kingdom of England emigrants to Massachusetts Bay Colony
People of colonial Massachusetts
People from Newbury, Massachusetts