William Leete - Biography

Biography

Leete was born about 1612 or 1613 at Doddington, Huntingdonshire, England, the son of John Leete and his wife Anna Shute, daughter of John Shute, a justice of the King's Court. He was educated as a lawyer, and served as a clerk in Bishop's Court at Cambridge, England. He married three times. His first wife, and mother of all ten of his known children, was Anna Payne, daughter of Reverend John Payne of Sothoe. They married on August 1, 1636, and she died on September 1, 1668. His second wife, whom he married on April 7, 1670, was Sarah, widow of Henry Rutherford. She died on February 4, 1673. His third wife was Mary, widow successively of Francis Newman and Reverend Nicholas Street.

Leete's distaste for the oppression of the Puritans by that court was a key factor in his emigration to Connecticut. On 1 June 1639, William Leete was among the 25 signers of the Plantation Covenant on shipboard.