William Hutchinson (Rhode Island) - Early Life

Early Life

Born into a prominent Lincolnshire family, William Hutchinson was the grandson of John Hutchinson (1515-1565) who had been Sheriff, Alderman, and Mayor of the town of Lincoln, dying in office during his second term as mayor. John's youngest son, Edward (1564-1632), moved to Alford and with his wife, Susanna, had 11 children, the oldest of whom was William, who was baptized 14 August 1586 in Alford. William Hutchinson grew up in Alford, where he was the warden of his church in 1620 and 1621, and after becoming a merchant in the cloth trade he moved to London. Here he became close to an old acquaintance from Alford, Anne Marbury, the daughter of Francis Marbury and Bridget Dryden, and the couple was married on 9 August 1612 at the Church of Saint Mary Woolnoth on Lombard Street in London. Anne's father was a clergyman, school master, and Puritan reformer who was educated at Cambridge.

Hutchinson and his wife raised a large family in Alford, as he prospered in his business. The couple had 14 children in England, one of whom died in infancy, and two of whom died from the plague. The Hutchinsons, particularly Anne, became very enamored with the preaching of the Reverend John Cotton who was the vicar of Saint Botolph's Church in the town of Boston, about 21 miles from Alford. The Hutchinsons made the day-long round trip to Boston whenever they could to hear Cotton preach, but Cotton had strong Puritan sympathies, and when Archbishop William Laud began cracking down on those whose opinions differed from those of the established Anglican church, Cotton was forced into hiding, and then had to flee the country to avoid imprisonment. Mrs. Hutchinson was distraught to lose her mentor, and the Hutchinsons would have sailed with Cotton to New England aboard the ship Griffin in 1633, but Mrs. Hutchinson's 14th pregnancy kept the family from leaving. However, with the intention of following Cotton to New England as soon as they could, the Hutchinsons sent there oldest son, 20-year old Edward, under the care of Cotton. William Hutchinson's youngest brother, also named Edward, was also aboard the same ship with his wife.

In 1634 William Hutchinson, his wife Anne, and his other ten children sailed from England to New England on the Griffin, the same ship that had taken Cotton and their oldest son a year earlier, and the family first resided at Boston where Hutchinson was admitted to the Boston Church on 26 October 1634, and his wife was admitted seven days later. He became a merchant in Boston and took the freeman's oath there in 1635. He was one of the town's Deputies to the Massachusetts Bay General Court from 1635 to 1636, and was also a selectman from 1635 to 1637, attending a selectmen's meeting for the last time in January 1638 as his tenure in Boston was coming to an end.