Joseph Dudley
Encyclopedia
Joseph Dudley was an English colonial administrator. A native of Roxbury, Massachusetts
and son of one of its founders, he had a leading role in the administration of the unpopular Dominion of New England
(1686–1689), and served briefly on the council of the Province of New York
, where he oversaw the trial that convicted Jacob Leisler
, the ringleader of Leisler's Rebellion
. He spent eight years in the 1690s as lieutenant governor of the Isle of Wight
, including one year as a Member of Parliament
. In 1702 he was appointed governor of the provinces of Massachusetts Bay
and New Hampshire
, posts he held until 1715.
His rule of Massachusetts was characterized by hostility and tension, with political enemies opposing his attempts to gain a regular salary, and regularly making complaints about his official and private actions. Most of his tenure was dominated by Queen Anne's War
, in which the two provinces were on the front lines with New France
and suffered from a series of major and minor French and Indian raids. He orchestrated an unsuccessful attempt to capture
the Acadia
n capital of Port Royal
in 1707, raised provincial militia forces for its successful capture
in 1710, and directed an unsuccessful expedition
against Quebec
in 1711.
Dudley's governorship institutionalized a pattern of hostility toward royal governance in Massachusetts, most frequently over the issue of the salaries of crown officials. The colonial legislature routinely challenged or disputed the prerogatives of the governor. While this hostility affected most of the governors of Massachusetts up to the American Revolutionary War
and the end of British rule, his rule of New Hampshire was comparatively uncontroversial.
, Massachusetts Bay Colony
on 23 September 1647. His mother was Katherine Deighton Hackburne Dudley, and his father was Thomas Dudley
, one of the founders and leading magistrates of the colony. His father was elderly (seventy) when he was born, and he was raised by his mother and Reverend John Allin, who she married after his father's death in 1653.
He graduated from Harvard College
in 1665, and was admitted as a freeman
in 1672. He became a member of the general court
representing Roxbury in 1673, and was elected to the colony's council of assistants in 1676. In 1675, when King Philip's War
broke out, Dudley was a commissioner who accompanied the colonial troops into the field against the Indians. He was present at the Great Swamp Fight
, in which the Narragansett tribe was decisively defeated. He served for several years as a commissioner to the New England Confederation
, and was sent by the administration on diplomatic missions to neighboring Indian communities. He also served on a committee that negotiated the boundary between Massachusetts and the neighboring Plymouth Colony
.
beginning in the 1660s, came under substantial threat in the late 1670s. Crown agent Edward Randolph
, sent to New England in 1676 to collect customs duties and enforce the Navigation Acts
, documented a list of issues and took his complaints to the Lords of Trade in London. The colonial leadership was divided on how to answer this threat. Dudley was part of a moderate faction, along with his brother-in-law Simon Bradstreet
and William Stoughton
, that supported accommodating the king's demands. The moderates were opposed by hardliners who opposed attempts by the crown to interfere in the colony's business. These factions were separated in part along class lines, with the wealthier land owners and merchants who dominated the legislature's upper house (called the "court of assistants") favoring accommodation, while the more representative lower house favored the hardliners.
In 1682 Massachusetts sent Dudley and John Richards
to London as agents to represent its case to the Lords of Trade. Dudley brought with him a letter of introduction from Plymouth Governor Thomas Hinckley
to William Blathwayt
, the colonial secretary. The favorable relationship he established with Blathwayt contributed much to Dudley's future success as a colonial administrator, although it also raised suspicions in the colony about his motives and ability to represent its interests. The authority of the agents was limited, and the Lords of Trade insisted to the colonial administration that their agents be authorized to negotiate modifications to the colonial charter. The legislature, dominated by hardliners, refused this demand. This led directly to this issuance of a quo warranto
writ demanding the surrender of the colonial charter. When Dudley brought this news to Boston at the end of 1683, a heated debate began in the legislature, with the hardline party again prevailing. The hardliners, whose leadership included the influential Reverend Increase Mather
, in particular castigated moderates like Dudley and Bradstreet as enemies of the colony. Richards, despite the hostile reception the agents had received in London, sided with the hardliners, and the hatred focused against Dudley resulted in his ouster from the council of assistants in the 1684 election.
The episode also led to accusations that Dudley had secretly schemed in London to have the charter vacated as a means of personal advancement. Although he is claimed to have discussed the form of a replacement government with Edward Randolph, this discussion did not take place until after the quo warranto writ was issued. This was treated as evidence that he was hostile to the present order of the colony, and working against his commission as colonial agent. His discussions with Randolph were perceived favorably by the latter, who also came to believe that Dudley's election loss meant he would make a good crown servant. As a result, rumors began circulating in Boston in late 1684 that Dudley might be appointed governor, with Randolph as his deputy.
The charter was annulled in 1684, and the Lords of Trade began planning to combine the New England colonies into a single province called the Dominion of New England
. This work was still in progress when King James II
took the throne in 1685; however, difficulties in drafting a commission for the intended governor, Sir Edmund Andros
, prompted Randolph to propose an interim appointment. Dudley was chosen for this post based on Randolph's recommendation, and on 8 October 1685 a commission was issued to him as President of the Council of New England. The territories covered by his commission included those of Massachusetts, New Hampshire
, Maine
, and the "Narragansett Country", a disputed territory in present-day southern Rhode Island
. Randolph was appointed to a long list of subsidiary posts, including secretary of the colony, that would give him considerable power in the colony.
Dudley was significantly hampered by the inability to raise revenues in the dominion. His commission did not allow for the introduction of new revenue laws, and the Massachusetts government, anticipating the loss of the charter, had repealed all such laws in 1683. Furthermore, many people refused to pay the few remaining methods of income on the grounds that they had been enacted by the old government and were thus invalid. Attempts by Dudley and Randolph to introduce the Church of England were largely unsuccessful due to a lack of funding, but were also hampered by the perceived political danger of imposing on the existing churches for their use.
The enforcement of the Navigation Acts was conducted by Dudley and Randolph, although they did not adhere to the letter of the laws. Understanding that some provisions of the acts were unfair (for example, resulting in the payments of multiple duties), some violations were overlooked, and they suggested to the Lords of Trade that the laws be modified to ameliorate these conditions. However, the Massachusetts economy was harmed by their vigorous enforcement of the acts. Dudley and Randolph eventually had a falling out over matters related to trade, administration, and religion. "I am treated by Mr. Dudley worse than by Mr. Danforth
", Randolph wrote, unfavorably comparing Dudley to one of the hardline magistrates.
While Dudley governed, the Lords of Trade, based on a petition from Dudley's council, decided to include the colonies of Rhode Island
and Connecticut
in the dominion. Andros, whose commission had been issued in June, was given an annex to his commission with instructions to incorporate them under his authority.
Although Andros' appointed council was intended to represent all of the combined territories, the difficulties of travel and the failure of the government to reimburse travel expenses meant that his council was dominated by representatives from Boston and Plymouth. Dudley and Randolph were widely regarded as being a significant part of the "tyranny" of Andros' reign. Dudley's position as judge brought him the harshest criticisms and complaints, in particular when he enforced unpopular laws concerning taxes, town meetings, and land titles imposed by Andros.
When word of the 1688 Glorious Revolution
arrived in Massachusetts, a mob rose up
and arrested Andros in April 1689. Dudley was away from the city, but was arrested upon his return. Since he was ill, he was released into house arrest upon payment of a £1,000 bond, but a mob descended on his home and carried him back to jail. He stayed in jail for ten months, in part for his own safety, and was then sent back to England at the command of King William
along with Andros and other dominion leaders. Colonial authorities brought charges against Andros and Dudley, but since none of their agents in London were prepared to take responsibility for making those charges in court, they were dismissed, and both men were freed. The defense he prepared against those charges demonstrated to the Lords of Trade his willingness and ability to follow crown policy directives.
Dudley, stranded in London with limited connections, appealed to Blathwayt for assistance. He also asked a business associate, Daniel Coxe
, for help in finding a new position. Coxe, a proprietor of West Jersey
, considered Dudley for the post of lieutenant governor there. Through these or other connections, Dudley was eventually recommended as chief of council to the new governor of New York, Henry Sloughter
, a position he took up in 1691. In addition to his council duties, he negotiated with New York's Indians, and sat as chief judge in the trial of Jacob Leisler
, who had led the rebellion
that in 1689 overthrew Andros' lieutenant governor, Francis Nicholson
. The trial was controversial, and Dudley's role made him many enemies. Leisler was convicted of high treason and sentenced to death. Governor Sloughter was initially opposed to immediately executing Leisler and his son-in-law Jacob Milborne, preferring to defer the decision to the king. Under pressure from anti-Leisler forces in his council, Sloughter changed his mind, and the two men were executed on 16 May 1691. Cotton Mather claimed that Dudley was an influential force arguing for Leisler's execution, but this is disputed by testimony from anti-Leisler councillor Nicholas Bayard
.
Dudley left New York for his home in Roxbury in 1692, and re-established connections with political friends like William Stoughton, who had just been appointed lieutenant governor of the newly chartered Province of Massachusetts Bay
under Sir William Phips
.
. He acquired a patron in Baron Cutts
, who engineered his appointment as lieutenant governor of the Isle of Wight
, where Cutts had been appointed governor. Dudley and Cutts assisted each other politically: Cutts worked to advance Dudley's agenda in London, while Dudley worked to promote that of Cutts on Wight. The principal activity he was engaged in that has been documented is the manipulation of parliamentary election processes in the island's constituencies to see that Cutts' chosen candidates were elected. This process made Cutts highly unpopular on Wight, although he continued in its governorship until his death in 1707. Dudley also tried to assist Cutts with some financial difficulties, unsuccessfully scheming with Cutts' father-in-law to gain permission to mint coinage for use in the colonies.
Dudley's principal object of intrigue was the removal of William Phips as Massachusetts governor, something he did not hide from the colony's agents. Phips, whose rule in Massachusetts was unpopular, was recalled to England to answer a variety of charges his opponents made. Dudley caused Phips to be arrested shortly after his arrival, on inflated charges that Phips had withheld customs monies from the crown. Phips died in February 1695 before the charges against him were heard, and Dudley was optimistic that he would be named the next governor.
At this point Dudley's enemies from New York and Massachusetts joined forces against him to deny him the opportunity. Jacob Leisler's son was in London, attempting to have the attainder
against his father's estate reversed. With assistance from Massachusetts agent Constantine Phips, a bill to do this was introduced into Parliament. The debate included a review of Leisler's trial, and Dudley was forced to appear and defend his role in it. Afterward, Phips wrote to Cotton Mather
, "[Dudley] is not so much talked of to be governor." The appointment to replace Phips went instead to Lord Bellomont
.
Cutts continued to be active on Dudley's behalf, and secured for him election as a Member of Parliament
representing Newtown
in 1701. This made it possible for Dudley to further expand his own political connections in London. He managed to at least temporarily mend political fences with Constantine Phips and Cotton Mather, and began lobbying for the Massachusetts governorship after the death of Bellomont in 1701. In this he was successful, receiving commissions as governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire on 1 April 1702 from Queen Anne
.
instead of Cotton Mather, and consistently vetoed the election of councilors and speakers of the general court who had acted against him in 1689, further increasing his unpopularity in Massachusetts. In contrast, his tenure as governor of New Hampshire was popular; its legislature specifically praised him to the queen after learning of complaints levelled against him by his Massachusetts opponents.
. He attempted to forestall French-orchestrated Indian hostilities by meeting with Indians at Casco Bay
in June 1703, but the French had already begun rallying the Indians to their cause, and the war began with raids on the settlements of southern Maine in August 1703. Dudley called out the militia, and the Massachusetts and New Hampshire frontiers, extending from the Connecticut River to southern Maine, were fortified. The French and Indians raided Deerfield in February 1704, prompting calls for retaliation. Dudley authorized the aging Indian fighter Benjamin Church to lead a retaliatory expedition against settlements in Acadia
. He also engaged in protracted negotiations for the return of captives taken at Deerfield that the French sought to broaden into a wider-ranging agreement.
In part because he specifically refused Church permission to attack the Acadian capital and commercial center, Port Royal
, Dudley was accused by Boston merchants and the Mathers of being in league with smugglers and traders illegally trading with the French. He sought to forestall these criticisms in 1707, when he sent the colonial militia on a fruitless expedition
against Port Royal. In 1708 a bitter attack on his administration was published in London, entitled The Deplorable State of New England by reason of a Covetous and Treacherous Governor and Pusillanimous Counsellors, as part of a campaign to have him recalled. Dudley again rallied the provincial militias for a planned expedition against Quebec in 1709, but the supporting expedition from England was called off. In 1710 support from England arrived, and a successful siege
of Port Royal led to its fall, and the beginning of the Province of Nova Scotia. Boston was again the organizing point for an expedition to Quebec
in 1711. Combining British and provincial forces, the expedition failed disastrously when some of its transports foundered on the shores of the Saint Lawrence River
. During the war Dudley also authorized expeditions against the Abenakis of northern New England, but these were largely ineffectual. The war quieted to some extent after the fall of Port Royal, with only small raiding parties hitting frontier communities, and peace came with the Treaty of Utrecht
in 1713.
Dudley negotiated a separate peace with the Abenakis at Portsmouth, New Hampshire
in 1713. Seeking to separate at least the western Kennebec from French influence, he adopted a fairly hard line, threatening to withhold trade that was vital to their survival, and reiterated claims of British sovereignty over the Abenaki. Although the Treaty of Portsmouth
that resulted from those negotiations repeats the claims of sovereignty, there is evidence that the implications of the sovereign claim were not explained to Abenaki negotiators, and that the Abenaki explicitly repudiated land claims in the negotiations. In response to Dudley's claims that the French had ceded Abenaki lands (claimed as part of Acadia), one sachem responded, "The French never said anything to us about it, and wee wonder how they would give it away without asking us". Nevertheless, Dudley and succeeding governors treated the Abenaki as British subjects, and friction persisted over British colonial expansion into Maine that flared into Dummer's War
in the 1720s.
had been incorrectly sited in the 17th century, and that Massachusetts had consequently distributed lands that actually belonged to Connecticut. Dudley and Connecticut Governor Gurdon Saltonstall
negotiated an agreement in which Massachusetts would retain those lands, but grant to Connecticut for distribution in an equivalent amount of land. The "Equivalent Lands"
amounted to over 100000 acres (404.7 km²) of land in an area on either side of the Connecticut River in present-day northern Massachusetts, southeastern Vermont, and southwestern New Hampshire. These lands were auctioned off in April 1716, and Connecticut used the proceeds to fund Yale College
.
The war worsened currency and finance problems in Massachusetts. Since the 1690s the province had been issuing paper currency
, and the issuance of large amounts of this currency was causing it to depreciate relative to precious metals used in other currencies. How to deal with this divided colonists among themselves and with the governor, and would not be resolved until the 1760s. Business leaders who borrowed money were happy to pay it back later with depreciated currency, while lenders sought reforms to stabilize the currency. In 1714 a major proposal was floated by Dudley's opponents in which a land bank, secured by the holdings of the shareholder's properties, would issue as much as £50,000 in currency. Dudley was opposed to this scheme, and instead convinced the provincial legislature to issue £50,000 in bills of credit. The financially powerful interests he upset with this move would prove to be his downfall.
Following the death in 1714 of Queen Anne, Dudley's commission and that of Lieutenant Governor William Tailer
, like most royal commissions, expired six months later. The governor's council, dominated by Dudley's political opponents, at that point asserted its authority, and on 14 February 1715, assumed control of the government under the provisions of the provincial charter concerning governance in the absence of the governor and his lieutenant. Just six weeks later, news arrived from England that Dudley's commission had been at least temporarily confirmed by King George I
, and he was reinstated on 21 March.
However, Dudley's political opponents, especially those involved in the land bank proposal, were active in London, and they convinced the king to appoint Colonel Elizeus Burgess as governor later in the year. Burgess' commission was proclaimed in Boston on 9 November 1715, ending Dudley's commission. Since Burgess was not in the colony, governance fell to Lieutenant Governor Tailer, whose commission had been renewed. Burgess was bribed by Jonathan Belcher
and Jeremiah Dummer
, the brother of Dudley's son-in-law William
, to resign his commission in April 1716 without leaving England, and a new commission was issued to Samuel Shute
, who promised to oppose attempts to introduce the land bank. He arrived in the colony and assumed the post of governor in October 1716, with William Dummer as his lieutenant.
Dudley retired to the family home in Roxbury. He acted as an informal advisor to Governor Shute upon his arrival, and made appearances at public and private functions. He died in Roxbury on 2 April 1720. He was buried, with pomp and ceremony appropriate to his position, next to his father in Roxbury's Eliot Burying Ground
.
is named for his sons Paul and William, who were its first proprietors.
Dudley at his death owned large tracts of land in Massachusetts, principally in Roxbury and what is now Worcester County
. The latter properties he purchased from the Nipmuc in partnership with William Stoughton, and was granted land for the purpose of settling French Huguenot
s that became part of Oxford
. Dudley frequently used his position, especially when president of the dominion and governor of the province, to ensure that the titles to lands he was interested in were judicially cleared, a practice that also benefited friends, relatives, and business partners. Edward Randolph wrote that it was "impossible to bring titles of land to trial before them where his Majesties's rights are concerned, the Judges also being parties."
Nineteenth century historian John Palfrey wrote of Dudley that he "united rich intellectual attributes with a groveling soul", forging political connections and relationships in his early years for the purpose of furthering his own advancement. He capitalized on his favorable family connections to the Puritan leadership of Massachusetts to establish connections in England, but then betrayed those Massachusetts connections when it became necessary to further his quest for power. Thomas Hutchinson, who later also served as provincial governor, and wrote an extensive history of Massachusetts, wrote of Dudley that "he had as many virtues as can consist with so great a thirst for honour and power." Biographer Everett Kimball wrote of Dudley, "... in spite of his failings of temper he possessed a good deal of tact and personal charm, by which, when everything else failed, he could sometimes transform an enemy into a friend."
The following text is inscribed on the reverse of portrait, “Gov. Joseph Dudley, Supposed to have been painted by Lely about 1680 - Property of Dr. Daniel Dudley Gilbert. Restored by Harold Fletcher in 1886.” The attribution to Peter Lely
was conjecture and incorrect.
Recorded in: American Colonial Painting, Materials for a History by Waldron Phoenix Belknap, Jr. (ref: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1959) p. 238, “Gov. Joseph Dudley (16 - ), son of Gov. Thomas Dudley, No 1. HL, own hair long, robe and steinkirk, right hand gesturing across body. Repro. Hist. Dudley Fam opp p. 834, photo by Elmer Chickering
, Boston. Ref.: Hist. Dudley Fam., pp. 757, 163, “Memorial of Reunion,” p. 13. Owned 1892: Dr. Daniel Dudley Gilbert (1838 - ), of Dorchester, Mass.”
Roxbury, Massachusetts
Roxbury is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was one of the first towns founded in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630, and became a city in 1846 until annexed to Boston on January 5, 1868...
and son of one of its founders, he had a leading role in the administration of the unpopular Dominion of New England
Dominion of New England
The Dominion of New England in America was an administrative union of English colonies in the New England region of North America. The dominion was ultimately a failure because the area it encompassed was too large for a single governor to manage...
(1686–1689), and served briefly on the council of the Province of New York
Province of New York
The Province of New York was an English and later British crown territory that originally included all of the present U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Vermont, along with inland portions of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine, as well as eastern Pennsylvania...
, where he oversaw the trial that convicted Jacob Leisler
Jacob Leisler
Jacob Leisler was a German-born American colonist. He helped create the Huguenot settlement of New Rochelle in 1688 and later served as the acting Lieutenant Governor of New York...
, the ringleader of Leisler's Rebellion
Leisler's Rebellion
Leisler's Rebellion was an uprising in late 17th century colonial New York, in which German American merchant and militia captain Jacob Leisler seized control of the colony's south and ruled it from 1689 to 1691. The uprising took place in the aftermath of Britain's Glorious Revolution and the...
. He spent eight years in the 1690s as lieutenant governor of the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
, including one year as a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
. In 1702 he was appointed governor of the provinces of Massachusetts Bay
Province of Massachusetts Bay
The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony in North America. It was chartered on October 7, 1691 by William and Mary, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of England and Scotland...
and New Hampshire
Province of New Hampshire
The Province of New Hampshire is a name first given in 1629 to the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers on the eastern coast of North America. It was formally organized as an English royal colony on October 7, 1691, during the period of English colonization...
, posts he held until 1715.
His rule of Massachusetts was characterized by hostility and tension, with political enemies opposing his attempts to gain a regular salary, and regularly making complaints about his official and private actions. Most of his tenure was dominated by Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War , as the North American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession was known in the British colonies, was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought between France and England, later Great Britain, in North America for control of the continent. The War of the...
, in which the two provinces were on the front lines with New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
and suffered from a series of major and minor French and Indian raids. He orchestrated an unsuccessful attempt to capture
Siege of Port Royal (1707)
The Siege of Port Royal in 1707 was two separate attempts by English colonists from New England to conquer Acadia by capturing its capital Port Royal during Queen Anne's War. Both attempts were made by colonial militia, and were led by men inexperienced in siege warfare...
the Acadia
Acadia
Acadia was the name given to lands in a portion of the French colonial empire of New France, in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day Maine. At the end of the 16th century, France claimed territory stretching as far south as...
n capital of Port Royal
Port Royal, Nova Scotia
Port Royal was the capital of Acadia from 1605 to 1710 and is now a town called Annapolis Royal in the western part of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Initially Port Royal was located on the north shore of the Annapolis Basin, Nova Scotia, at the site of the present reconstruction of the...
in 1707, raised provincial militia forces for its successful capture
Siege of Port Royal (1710)
The Siege of Port Royal , also known as the Conquest of Acadia, was conducted by British regular and provincial forces under the command of Francis Nicholson against a French Acadian garrison under the command of Daniel d'Auger de Subercase, at the Acadian capital, Port Royal...
in 1710, and directed an unsuccessful expedition
Quebec Expedition
The Quebec Expedition, or the Walker Expedition to Quebec, was a British attempt to attack Quebec in 1711 in Queen Anne's War, the North American theatre of the War of Spanish Succession...
against Quebec
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
in 1711.
Dudley's governorship institutionalized a pattern of hostility toward royal governance in Massachusetts, most frequently over the issue of the salaries of crown officials. The colonial legislature routinely challenged or disputed the prerogatives of the governor. While this hostility affected most of the governors of Massachusetts up to the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
and the end of British rule, his rule of New Hampshire was comparatively uncontroversial.
Early life
Joseph Dudley was born in RoxburyRoxbury, Massachusetts
Roxbury is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was one of the first towns founded in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630, and became a city in 1846 until annexed to Boston on January 5, 1868...
, Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
on 23 September 1647. His mother was Katherine Deighton Hackburne Dudley, and his father was Thomas Dudley
Thomas Dudley
Thomas Dudley 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...
, one of the founders and leading magistrates of the colony. His father was elderly (seventy) when he was born, and he was raised by his mother and Reverend John Allin, who she married after his father's death in 1653.
He graduated from Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
in 1665, and was admitted as a freeman
Freeman (Colonial)
Freeman is a term which originated in 12th century Europe and is common as an English or American Colonial expression in Puritan times. In the Bay Colony, a man had to be a member of the Church to be a freeman. In Colonial Plymouth, a man did not need to be a member of the Church, but he had to be...
in 1672. He became a member of the general court
Massachusetts General Court
The Massachusetts General Court is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the Colonial Era, when this body also sat in judgment of judicial appeals cases...
representing Roxbury in 1673, and was elected to the colony's council of assistants in 1676. In 1675, when King Philip's War
King Philip's War
King Philip's War, sometimes called Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, or Metacom's Rebellion, was an armed conflict between Native American inhabitants of present-day southern New England and English colonists and their Native American allies in 1675–76. The war is named after the main leader of the...
broke out, Dudley was a commissioner who accompanied the colonial troops into the field against the Indians. He was present at the Great Swamp Fight
Great Swamp Fight
The Great Swamp Fight, or the Great Swamp Massacre, was a crucial battle fought during King Philip's War between colonial militia of New England and the Narragansett tribe in December of 1675.-Battle:...
, in which the Narragansett tribe was decisively defeated. He served for several years as a commissioner to the New England Confederation
New England Confederation
The United Colonies of New England, commonly known as the New England Confederation, was a short-lived military alliance of the English colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven. Established in 1643, its primary purpose was to unite the Puritan colonies against the Native...
, and was sent by the administration on diplomatic missions to neighboring Indian communities. He also served on a committee that negotiated the boundary between Massachusetts and the neighboring Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town...
.
Revocation of the colonial charter
The colony's governance, which had first come under increased scrutiny by King Charles IICharles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
beginning in the 1660s, came under substantial threat in the late 1670s. Crown agent Edward Randolph
Edward Randolph (colonial administrator)
Edward Randolph was an English colonial administrator, best known for his role in effecting significant changes in the structure of the England's North American colonies in the later years of the 17th century...
, sent to New England in 1676 to collect customs duties and enforce the Navigation Acts
Navigation Acts
The English Navigation Acts were a series of laws that restricted the use of foreign shipping for trade between England and its colonies, a process which had started in 1651. Their goal was to force colonial development into lines favorable to England, and stop direct colonial trade with the...
, documented a list of issues and took his complaints to the Lords of Trade in London. The colonial leadership was divided on how to answer this threat. Dudley was part of a moderate faction, along with his brother-in-law Simon Bradstreet
Simon Bradstreet
Simon Bradstreet was a colonial magistrate, businessman, diplomat, and the last governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Arriving in Massachusetts on the Winthrop Fleet in 1630, Bradstreet was almost constantly involved in the politics of the colony but became its governor only in 1679...
and William Stoughton
William Stoughton (Massachusetts)
William Stoughton was a colonial magistrate and admininstrator in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. He was in charge of what have come to be known as the Salem Witch Trials, first as the Chief Justice of the Special Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692, and then as the Chief Justice of the...
, that supported accommodating the king's demands. The moderates were opposed by hardliners who opposed attempts by the crown to interfere in the colony's business. These factions were separated in part along class lines, with the wealthier land owners and merchants who dominated the legislature's upper house (called the "court of assistants") favoring accommodation, while the more representative lower house favored the hardliners.
In 1682 Massachusetts sent Dudley and John Richards
John Richards (colonial judge)
John Richards was appointed as a magistrate on the Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692 by Massachusetts Governor William Phips, and then again as a justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature, Court of Assize and general Goal Delivery in 1693, both of which courts heard the cases that...
to London as agents to represent its case to the Lords of Trade. Dudley brought with him a letter of introduction from Plymouth Governor Thomas Hinckley
Thomas Hinckley
Thomas Hinckley was the governor of the Plymouth Colony and held several other governmental positions during his lifetime, including that of a representative, a deputy, magistrate, and assistant, among others...
to William Blathwayt
William Blathwayt
William Blathwayt was a civil servant and politician who established the War Office as a department of the British Government and played an important part in administering the Thirteen Colonies of North America....
, the colonial secretary. The favorable relationship he established with Blathwayt contributed much to Dudley's future success as a colonial administrator, although it also raised suspicions in the colony about his motives and ability to represent its interests. The authority of the agents was limited, and the Lords of Trade insisted to the colonial administration that their agents be authorized to negotiate modifications to the colonial charter. The legislature, dominated by hardliners, refused this demand. This led directly to this issuance of a quo warranto
Quo warranto
Quo warranto is a prerogative writ requiring the person to whom it is directed to show what authority they have for exercising some right or power they claim to hold.-History:...
writ demanding the surrender of the colonial charter. When Dudley brought this news to Boston at the end of 1683, a heated debate began in the legislature, with the hardline party again prevailing. The hardliners, whose leadership included the influential Reverend Increase Mather
Increase Mather
Increase Mather was a major figure in the early history of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Province of Massachusetts Bay . He was a Puritan minister who was involved with the government of the colony, the administration of Harvard College, and most notoriously, the Salem witch trials...
, in particular castigated moderates like Dudley and Bradstreet as enemies of the colony. Richards, despite the hostile reception the agents had received in London, sided with the hardliners, and the hatred focused against Dudley resulted in his ouster from the council of assistants in the 1684 election.
The episode also led to accusations that Dudley had secretly schemed in London to have the charter vacated as a means of personal advancement. Although he is claimed to have discussed the form of a replacement government with Edward Randolph, this discussion did not take place until after the quo warranto writ was issued. This was treated as evidence that he was hostile to the present order of the colony, and working against his commission as colonial agent. His discussions with Randolph were perceived favorably by the latter, who also came to believe that Dudley's election loss meant he would make a good crown servant. As a result, rumors began circulating in Boston in late 1684 that Dudley might be appointed governor, with Randolph as his deputy.
The charter was annulled in 1684, and the Lords of Trade began planning to combine the New England colonies into a single province called the Dominion of New England
Dominion of New England
The Dominion of New England in America was an administrative union of English colonies in the New England region of North America. The dominion was ultimately a failure because the area it encompassed was too large for a single governor to manage...
. This work was still in progress when King James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
took the throne in 1685; however, difficulties in drafting a commission for the intended governor, Sir Edmund Andros
Edmund Andros
Sir Edmund Andros was an English colonial administrator in North America. Andros was known most notably for his governorship of the Dominion of New England during most of its three-year existence. He also governed at various times the provinces of New York, East and West Jersey, Virginia, and...
, prompted Randolph to propose an interim appointment. Dudley was chosen for this post based on Randolph's recommendation, and on 8 October 1685 a commission was issued to him as President of the Council of New England. The territories covered by his commission included those of Massachusetts, New Hampshire
Province of New Hampshire
The Province of New Hampshire is a name first given in 1629 to the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers on the eastern coast of North America. It was formally organized as an English royal colony on October 7, 1691, during the period of English colonization...
, Maine
Province of Maine
The Province of Maine refers to several English colonies of that name that existed in the 17th century along the northeast coast of North America, at times roughly encompassing portions of the present-day U.S. states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, as well as the Canadian provinces of Quebec...
, and the "Narragansett Country", a disputed territory in present-day southern Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
. Randolph was appointed to a long list of subsidiary posts, including secretary of the colony, that would give him considerable power in the colony.
President of the Council of New England
Randolph arrived in Boston with Dudley's charter on 14 May 1686, and Dudley formally took charge of Massachusetts on 25 May. His rule did not begin auspiciously, since a number of Massachusetts magistrates who had been named to his council refused to serve, and he was unable to reconcile with Increase Mather, who refused to see him. According to Randolph, the Puritan magistrates "were of opinion that God would never suffer me to land again in this country, and thereupon began in a most arbitrary manner to assert their power higher than at any time before." Elections of colonial military officers were also compromised when many of them also refused to serve. Dudley made a number of judicial appointments, generally favoring the political moderates who had supported accommodation of the king's wishes in the battle over the old charter. He renewed treaties with the Indians of northern New England, and traveled to the Narragansett Country in June to formally establish his authority there.Dudley was significantly hampered by the inability to raise revenues in the dominion. His commission did not allow for the introduction of new revenue laws, and the Massachusetts government, anticipating the loss of the charter, had repealed all such laws in 1683. Furthermore, many people refused to pay the few remaining methods of income on the grounds that they had been enacted by the old government and were thus invalid. Attempts by Dudley and Randolph to introduce the Church of England were largely unsuccessful due to a lack of funding, but were also hampered by the perceived political danger of imposing on the existing churches for their use.
Thomas Danforth
Thomas Danforth was a judge for the 1692 Salem witch trials in early colonial America.-Early life:He was born in Framlingham, Suffolk, England as the eldest son of Nicholas Danforth and Elizabeth Symmes...
", Randolph wrote, unfavorably comparing Dudley to one of the hardline magistrates.
While Dudley governed, the Lords of Trade, based on a petition from Dudley's council, decided to include the colonies of Rhode Island
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was one of the original English Thirteen Colonies established on the east coast of North America that, after the American Revolution, became the modern U.S...
and Connecticut
Connecticut Colony
The Connecticut Colony or Colony of Connecticut was an English colony located in British America that became the U.S. state of Connecticut. Originally known as the River Colony, it was organized on March 3, 1636 as a haven for Puritan noblemen. After early struggles with the Dutch, the English...
in the dominion. Andros, whose commission had been issued in June, was given an annex to his commission with instructions to incorporate them under his authority.
Service under Governor Andros
When Governor Andros arrived in December 1686 he immediately assumed the reins of power. Dudley sat on his council, and served as judge of the superior court and censor of the press. He also sat on the committee that worked to harmonize legislation across the dominion.Although Andros' appointed council was intended to represent all of the combined territories, the difficulties of travel and the failure of the government to reimburse travel expenses meant that his council was dominated by representatives from Boston and Plymouth. Dudley and Randolph were widely regarded as being a significant part of the "tyranny" of Andros' reign. Dudley's position as judge brought him the harshest criticisms and complaints, in particular when he enforced unpopular laws concerning taxes, town meetings, and land titles imposed by Andros.
When word of the 1688 Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
arrived in Massachusetts, a mob rose up
1689 Boston revolt
The 1689 Boston revolt was a popular uprising on April 18, 1689, against the rule of Sir Edmund Andros, the governor of the Dominion of New England. A well-organized "mob" of provincial militia and citizens formed in the city and arrested dominion officials...
and arrested Andros in April 1689. Dudley was away from the city, but was arrested upon his return. Since he was ill, he was released into house arrest upon payment of a £1,000 bond, but a mob descended on his home and carried him back to jail. He stayed in jail for ten months, in part for his own safety, and was then sent back to England at the command of King William
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
along with Andros and other dominion leaders. Colonial authorities brought charges against Andros and Dudley, but since none of their agents in London were prepared to take responsibility for making those charges in court, they were dismissed, and both men were freed. The defense he prepared against those charges demonstrated to the Lords of Trade his willingness and ability to follow crown policy directives.
Dudley, stranded in London with limited connections, appealed to Blathwayt for assistance. He also asked a business associate, Daniel Coxe
Daniel Coxe
Dr. Daniel Coxe was a governor of West Jersey from 1687-1688 and 1689-1692.-Biography:The Coxe family traced their lineage to a Daniel Coxe who lived in Somersetshire, England in the 13th century and obtained a doctor of medicine degree from Salerno University. Daniel Coxe's father was also called...
, for help in finding a new position. Coxe, a proprietor of West Jersey
West Jersey
West Jersey and East Jersey were two distinct parts of the Province of New Jersey. The political division existed for 28 years, between 1674 and 1702...
, considered Dudley for the post of lieutenant governor there. Through these or other connections, Dudley was eventually recommended as chief of council to the new governor of New York, Henry Sloughter
Henry Sloughter
Henry Sloughter was briefly colonial governor of New York in 1691. Sloughter was the governor who put down Leisler's Rebellion, which had installed Jacob Leisler as de facto governor in 1689. Lieutenant Governor Richard Ingoldesby, who had served against Leisler's rebels, took over after...
, a position he took up in 1691. In addition to his council duties, he negotiated with New York's Indians, and sat as chief judge in the trial of Jacob Leisler
Jacob Leisler
Jacob Leisler was a German-born American colonist. He helped create the Huguenot settlement of New Rochelle in 1688 and later served as the acting Lieutenant Governor of New York...
, who had led the rebellion
Leisler's Rebellion
Leisler's Rebellion was an uprising in late 17th century colonial New York, in which German American merchant and militia captain Jacob Leisler seized control of the colony's south and ruled it from 1689 to 1691. The uprising took place in the aftermath of Britain's Glorious Revolution and the...
that in 1689 overthrew Andros' lieutenant governor, Francis Nicholson
Francis Nicholson
Francis Nicholson was a British military officer and colonial administrator. His military service included time in Africa and Europe, after which he was sent as leader of the troops supporting Sir Edmund Andros in the Dominion of New England. There he distinguished himself, and was appointed...
. The trial was controversial, and Dudley's role made him many enemies. Leisler was convicted of high treason and sentenced to death. Governor Sloughter was initially opposed to immediately executing Leisler and his son-in-law Jacob Milborne, preferring to defer the decision to the king. Under pressure from anti-Leisler forces in his council, Sloughter changed his mind, and the two men were executed on 16 May 1691. Cotton Mather claimed that Dudley was an influential force arguing for Leisler's execution, but this is disputed by testimony from anti-Leisler councillor Nicholas Bayard
Nicholas Bayard
Colonel Nicholas Bayard was an official in the colony of New York. Bayard served as the sixteenth Mayor of New York City, from 1685 to 1686...
.
Dudley left New York for his home in Roxbury in 1692, and re-established connections with political friends like William Stoughton, who had just been appointed lieutenant governor of the newly chartered Province of Massachusetts Bay
Province of Massachusetts Bay
The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony in North America. It was chartered on October 7, 1691 by William and Mary, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of England and Scotland...
under Sir William Phips
William Phips
Sir William Phips was a shipwright, ship's captain, treasure hunter, military leader, and the first royally-appointed governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay....
.
Patronage
Returning to England in 1693, Dudley embarked on a series of intrigues to regain an office in New England. He ingratiated himself to the religious elements of the London political establishment by formally joining to the Church of EnglandChurch of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
. He acquired a patron in Baron Cutts
John Cutts, 1st Baron Cutts
Lieutenant-General John Cutts, 1st Baron Cutts PC , British soldier and author, came from an Essex family.After a short university career at Catharine Hall, Cambridge, he inherited the family estates, but showed a distinct preference for the life of court and camp...
, who engineered his appointment as lieutenant governor of the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
, where Cutts had been appointed governor. Dudley and Cutts assisted each other politically: Cutts worked to advance Dudley's agenda in London, while Dudley worked to promote that of Cutts on Wight. The principal activity he was engaged in that has been documented is the manipulation of parliamentary election processes in the island's constituencies to see that Cutts' chosen candidates were elected. This process made Cutts highly unpopular on Wight, although he continued in its governorship until his death in 1707. Dudley also tried to assist Cutts with some financial difficulties, unsuccessfully scheming with Cutts' father-in-law to gain permission to mint coinage for use in the colonies.
At this point Dudley's enemies from New York and Massachusetts joined forces against him to deny him the opportunity. Jacob Leisler's son was in London, attempting to have the attainder
Attainder
In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura is the metaphorical 'stain' or 'corruption of blood' which arises from being condemned for a serious capital crime . It entails losing not only one's property and hereditary titles, but typically also the right to pass them on to one's heirs...
against his father's estate reversed. With assistance from Massachusetts agent Constantine Phips, a bill to do this was introduced into Parliament. The debate included a review of Leisler's trial, and Dudley was forced to appear and defend his role in it. Afterward, Phips wrote to Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather, FRS was a socially and politically influential New England Puritan minister, prolific author and pamphleteer; he is often remembered for his role in the Salem witch trials...
, "[Dudley] is not so much talked of to be governor." The appointment to replace Phips went instead to Lord Bellomont
Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont
Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont , known as The Lord Coote between 1683 and 1689, was a member of the English Parliament and a colonial governor...
.
Cutts continued to be active on Dudley's behalf, and secured for him election as a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
representing Newtown
Newtown (UK Parliament constituency)
Newtown was a parliamentary borough located in Newtown on the Isle of Wight, which was represented in the House of Commons of England then of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832...
in 1701. This made it possible for Dudley to further expand his own political connections in London. He managed to at least temporarily mend political fences with Constantine Phips and Cotton Mather, and began lobbying for the Massachusetts governorship after the death of Bellomont in 1701. In this he was successful, receiving commissions as governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire on 1 April 1702 from Queen Anne
Anne of Great Britain
Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
.
Governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire
Dudley served as governor until 1715. His administration was marked, particularly in the earlier years, by regular conflict with the general court. Upon instruction from the colonial office, he was to gain a regular salary for the governor. He and all of the succeeding royal governors were unsuccessful in extracting this concession from the provincial legislature, and it became a regular source of friction between representatives of crown and colony. Dudley pressed his complaint in letters to London, in which he complained of men "who love not the Crown and Government of England to any manner of obedience". In one letter to his son Paul, then the provincial attorney general, he wrote "this country will never be worth living in for lawyers and gentlemen, till the charter is taken away." This letter was discovered and published, fueling provincial opposition to his rule. Dudley also angered the powerful Mather family when he awarded the presidency of Harvard to John LeverettJohn Leverett the Younger
John Leverett was an early American lawyer, politician, educator, and President of Harvard University.John Leverett was the son of Hudson Leverett, an attorney, and Sarah Leverett,...
instead of Cotton Mather, and consistently vetoed the election of councilors and speakers of the general court who had acted against him in 1689, further increasing his unpopularity in Massachusetts. In contrast, his tenure as governor of New Hampshire was popular; its legislature specifically praised him to the queen after learning of complaints levelled against him by his Massachusetts opponents.
Queen Anne's War
Dudley was active in managing colonial defenses during Queen Anne's WarQueen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War , as the North American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession was known in the British colonies, was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought between France and England, later Great Britain, in North America for control of the continent. The War of the...
. He attempted to forestall French-orchestrated Indian hostilities by meeting with Indians at Casco Bay
Casco Bay
Casco Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine on the southern coast of Maine, New England, United States. Its easternmost approach is Cape Small and its westernmost approach is Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth...
in June 1703, but the French had already begun rallying the Indians to their cause, and the war began with raids on the settlements of southern Maine in August 1703. Dudley called out the militia, and the Massachusetts and New Hampshire frontiers, extending from the Connecticut River to southern Maine, were fortified. The French and Indians raided Deerfield in February 1704, prompting calls for retaliation. Dudley authorized the aging Indian fighter Benjamin Church to lead a retaliatory expedition against settlements in Acadia
Acadia
Acadia was the name given to lands in a portion of the French colonial empire of New France, in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day Maine. At the end of the 16th century, France claimed territory stretching as far south as...
. He also engaged in protracted negotiations for the return of captives taken at Deerfield that the French sought to broaden into a wider-ranging agreement.
In part because he specifically refused Church permission to attack the Acadian capital and commercial center, Port Royal
Port Royal, Nova Scotia
Port Royal was the capital of Acadia from 1605 to 1710 and is now a town called Annapolis Royal in the western part of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Initially Port Royal was located on the north shore of the Annapolis Basin, Nova Scotia, at the site of the present reconstruction of the...
, Dudley was accused by Boston merchants and the Mathers of being in league with smugglers and traders illegally trading with the French. He sought to forestall these criticisms in 1707, when he sent the colonial militia on a fruitless expedition
Siege of Port Royal (1707)
The Siege of Port Royal in 1707 was two separate attempts by English colonists from New England to conquer Acadia by capturing its capital Port Royal during Queen Anne's War. Both attempts were made by colonial militia, and were led by men inexperienced in siege warfare...
against Port Royal. In 1708 a bitter attack on his administration was published in London, entitled The Deplorable State of New England by reason of a Covetous and Treacherous Governor and Pusillanimous Counsellors, as part of a campaign to have him recalled. Dudley again rallied the provincial militias for a planned expedition against Quebec in 1709, but the supporting expedition from England was called off. In 1710 support from England arrived, and a successful siege
Siege of Port Royal (1710)
The Siege of Port Royal , also known as the Conquest of Acadia, was conducted by British regular and provincial forces under the command of Francis Nicholson against a French Acadian garrison under the command of Daniel d'Auger de Subercase, at the Acadian capital, Port Royal...
of Port Royal led to its fall, and the beginning of the Province of Nova Scotia. Boston was again the organizing point for an expedition to Quebec
Quebec Expedition
The Quebec Expedition, or the Walker Expedition to Quebec, was a British attempt to attack Quebec in 1711 in Queen Anne's War, the North American theatre of the War of Spanish Succession...
in 1711. Combining British and provincial forces, the expedition failed disastrously when some of its transports foundered on the shores of the Saint Lawrence River
Saint Lawrence River
The Saint Lawrence is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin...
. During the war Dudley also authorized expeditions against the Abenakis of northern New England, but these were largely ineffectual. The war quieted to some extent after the fall of Port Royal, with only small raiding parties hitting frontier communities, and peace came with the Treaty of Utrecht
Treaty of Utrecht
The Treaty of Utrecht, which established the Peace of Utrecht, comprises a series of individual peace treaties, rather than a single document, signed by the belligerents in the War of Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht in March and April 1713...
in 1713.
Dudley negotiated a separate peace with the Abenakis at Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...
in 1713. Seeking to separate at least the western Kennebec from French influence, he adopted a fairly hard line, threatening to withhold trade that was vital to their survival, and reiterated claims of British sovereignty over the Abenaki. Although the Treaty of Portsmouth
Treaty of Portsmouth (1713)
The Treaty of Portsmouth, signed on July 13, 1713, ended hostilities between Eastern Abenakis with the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The agreement renewed a treaty of 1693 the Indians had made with Governor William Phips, two in a series of attempts to establish peace between Indians and...
that resulted from those negotiations repeats the claims of sovereignty, there is evidence that the implications of the sovereign claim were not explained to Abenaki negotiators, and that the Abenaki explicitly repudiated land claims in the negotiations. In response to Dudley's claims that the French had ceded Abenaki lands (claimed as part of Acadia), one sachem responded, "The French never said anything to us about it, and wee wonder how they would give it away without asking us". Nevertheless, Dudley and succeeding governors treated the Abenaki as British subjects, and friction persisted over British colonial expansion into Maine that flared into Dummer's War
Dummer's War
Dummer's War , also known as Lovewell's War, Father Rale's War, Greylock's War, the Three Years War, the 4th Indian War or the Wabanaki-New England War of 1722–1725, was a series of battles between British settlers of the three northernmost British colonies of North America of the time and the...
in the 1720s.
Other issues
In 1713 surveys determined that the border between Massachusetts and the Connecticut ColonyConnecticut Colony
The Connecticut Colony or Colony of Connecticut was an English colony located in British America that became the U.S. state of Connecticut. Originally known as the River Colony, it was organized on March 3, 1636 as a haven for Puritan noblemen. After early struggles with the Dutch, the English...
had been incorrectly sited in the 17th century, and that Massachusetts had consequently distributed lands that actually belonged to Connecticut. Dudley and Connecticut Governor Gurdon Saltonstall
Gurdon Saltonstall
Gurdon Saltonstall was governor of the Colony of Connecticut from 1708 to 1724...
negotiated an agreement in which Massachusetts would retain those lands, but grant to Connecticut for distribution in an equivalent amount of land. The "Equivalent Lands"
Equivalent lands
The Equivalent lands were several large tracts of land that the Province of Massachusetts Bay made available to settlers from the Connecticut Colony after April, 1716. This was done as compensation for an "equivalent" area of Connecticut-claimed territory which had been inadvertently settled by...
amounted to over 100000 acres (404.7 km²) of land in an area on either side of the Connecticut River in present-day northern Massachusetts, southeastern Vermont, and southwestern New Hampshire. These lands were auctioned off in April 1716, and Connecticut used the proceeds to fund Yale College
Yale College
Yale College was the official name of Yale University from 1718 to 1887. The name now refers to the undergraduate part of the university. Each undergraduate student is assigned to one of 12 residential colleges.-Residential colleges:...
.
The war worsened currency and finance problems in Massachusetts. Since the 1690s the province had been issuing paper currency
Massachusetts pound
The pound was the currency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and its colonial predecessors until 1793. Like the British pound sterling of that era, the Massachusetts pound was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence, but the Massachusetts and British pounds were not equivalent in value...
, and the issuance of large amounts of this currency was causing it to depreciate relative to precious metals used in other currencies. How to deal with this divided colonists among themselves and with the governor, and would not be resolved until the 1760s. Business leaders who borrowed money were happy to pay it back later with depreciated currency, while lenders sought reforms to stabilize the currency. In 1714 a major proposal was floated by Dudley's opponents in which a land bank, secured by the holdings of the shareholder's properties, would issue as much as £50,000 in currency. Dudley was opposed to this scheme, and instead convinced the provincial legislature to issue £50,000 in bills of credit. The financially powerful interests he upset with this move would prove to be his downfall.
Following the death in 1714 of Queen Anne, Dudley's commission and that of Lieutenant Governor William Tailer
William Tailer
William Tailer was a military officer and politician in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Born into the wealthy and influential Stoughton family, he twice married into other politically powerful families. He served as lieutenant governor of the province from 1711 until 1716, and again in the...
, like most royal commissions, expired six months later. The governor's council, dominated by Dudley's political opponents, at that point asserted its authority, and on 14 February 1715, assumed control of the government under the provisions of the provincial charter concerning governance in the absence of the governor and his lieutenant. Just six weeks later, news arrived from England that Dudley's commission had been at least temporarily confirmed by King George I
George I of Great Britain
George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....
, and he was reinstated on 21 March.
However, Dudley's political opponents, especially those involved in the land bank proposal, were active in London, and they convinced the king to appoint Colonel Elizeus Burgess as governor later in the year. Burgess' commission was proclaimed in Boston on 9 November 1715, ending Dudley's commission. Since Burgess was not in the colony, governance fell to Lieutenant Governor Tailer, whose commission had been renewed. Burgess was bribed by Jonathan Belcher
Jonathan Belcher
Jonathan Belcher was colonial governor of the British provinces of Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, and New Jersey.-Early life:Jonathan Belcher was born in Cambridge, Province of Massachusetts Bay, in 1682...
and Jeremiah Dummer
Jeremiah Dummer
Jeremiah Dummer was an important colonial figure for New England in the early 18th century. His most significant contributions to American history were his A Defense of the New England Charters and his role in the formation of Yale College.-Background and early life:Jeremiah Dummer's family...
, the brother of Dudley's son-in-law William
William Dummer
William Dummer was Acting Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1723 to 1728.-Family:Dummer was born in Boston and died in Newbury, Massachusetts, the son of Jeremiah Dummer, the first American born silversmith, and Anna Atwater...
, to resign his commission in April 1716 without leaving England, and a new commission was issued to Samuel Shute
Samuel Shute
Samuel Shute was a military officer and royal governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. After serving in the Nine Years' War and the War of the Spanish Succession, he was appointed by King George I as governor of Massachusetts in 1716...
, who promised to oppose attempts to introduce the land bank. He arrived in the colony and assumed the post of governor in October 1716, with William Dummer as his lieutenant.
Dudley retired to the family home in Roxbury. He acted as an informal advisor to Governor Shute upon his arrival, and made appearances at public and private functions. He died in Roxbury on 2 April 1720. He was buried, with pomp and ceremony appropriate to his position, next to his father in Roxbury's Eliot Burying Ground
Eliot Burying Ground
Eliot Burying Ground is an historic cemetery at Eustis and Washington Streetsin Boston, Massachusetts.Founded in 1630, the cemetery was added to the National Historic Register in 1974...
.
Family and legacy
In 1668, Dudley married Rebecca Tyng, who survived him by two years. They had twelve children, ten of whom survived to adulthood. His son Paul served as attorney general and chief justice of Massachusetts. Dudley, MassachusettsDudley, Massachusetts
Dudley is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,390 at the 2010 census.-History:Dudley was first settled in 1714 and was officially incorporated in 1732...
is named for his sons Paul and William, who were its first proprietors.
Dudley at his death owned large tracts of land in Massachusetts, principally in Roxbury and what is now Worcester County
Worcester County, Massachusetts
-Demographics:In 1990 Worcester County had a population of 709,705.As of the census of 2000, there were 750,963 people, 283,927 households, and 192,502 families residing in the county. The population density was 496 people per square mile . There were 298,159 housing units at an average density...
. The latter properties he purchased from the Nipmuc in partnership with William Stoughton, and was granted land for the purpose of settling French Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
s that became part of Oxford
Oxford, Massachusetts
Oxford is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 13,709 at the 2010 census.For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Oxford, please see the article Oxford , Massachusetts.-History:...
. Dudley frequently used his position, especially when president of the dominion and governor of the province, to ensure that the titles to lands he was interested in were judicially cleared, a practice that also benefited friends, relatives, and business partners. Edward Randolph wrote that it was "impossible to bring titles of land to trial before them where his Majesties's rights are concerned, the Judges also being parties."
Nineteenth century historian John Palfrey wrote of Dudley that he "united rich intellectual attributes with a groveling soul", forging political connections and relationships in his early years for the purpose of furthering his own advancement. He capitalized on his favorable family connections to the Puritan leadership of Massachusetts to establish connections in England, but then betrayed those Massachusetts connections when it became necessary to further his quest for power. Thomas Hutchinson, who later also served as provincial governor, and wrote an extensive history of Massachusetts, wrote of Dudley that "he had as many virtues as can consist with so great a thirst for honour and power." Biographer Everett Kimball wrote of Dudley, "... in spite of his failings of temper he possessed a good deal of tact and personal charm, by which, when everything else failed, he could sometimes transform an enemy into a friend."
Portrait
Dudley's portrait (seen above), is documented as having been painted in 1704. The portrait remained in the family from its creation, through a direct line of descent, to the 20th century. It was sold at public auction by Eldred's in 2006. Numerous internet sites misidentify a reversed 19th century black and white photograph of this portrait as his father Thomas.The following text is inscribed on the reverse of portrait, “Gov. Joseph Dudley, Supposed to have been painted by Lely about 1680 - Property of Dr. Daniel Dudley Gilbert. Restored by Harold Fletcher in 1886.” The attribution to Peter Lely
Peter Lely
Sir Peter Lely was a painter of Dutch origin, whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court.-Life:...
was conjecture and incorrect.
Recorded in: American Colonial Painting, Materials for a History by Waldron Phoenix Belknap, Jr. (ref: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1959) p. 238, “Gov. Joseph Dudley (16 - ), son of Gov. Thomas Dudley, No 1. HL, own hair long, robe and steinkirk, right hand gesturing across body. Repro. Hist. Dudley Fam opp p. 834, photo by Elmer Chickering
Elmer Chickering
Elmer Chickering was a photographer specializing in portraits in Boston, Massachusetts, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He kept a studio on West Street, and photographed politicians, actors, athletes and other public figures such as John Philip Sousa, Sarah Winnemucca, Edmund Breese,...
, Boston. Ref.: Hist. Dudley Fam., pp. 757, 163, “Memorial of Reunion,” p. 13. Owned 1892: Dr. Daniel Dudley Gilbert (1838 - ), of Dorchester, Mass.”