William Coddington

Who was William Coddington?

William Coddington was an early magistrate of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and later of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, serving as the Judge of Portsmouth, Judge of Newport, Governor of Portsmouth and Newport, Deputy Governor of the entire colony, and then Governor of the colony. Born and raised in Lincolnshire, England, he accompanied the Winthrop Fleet in its voyage to New England in 1630, becoming an early leader in Boston. Here he built the first brick house, and became heavily involved in the local government as an assistant, treasurer, and magistrate.

Being fairly liberal in his political and religious views, he supported the dissident minister, Anne Hutchinson, whose religious opinions led to her banishment from the Massachusetts colony. Being politely dismissed from the colony, he was the lead signer of a compact to form a Christian based government away from Massachusetts. Encouraged by Roger Williams to settle on the Narragansett Bay, he and other supporters of Hutchinson bought Aquidneck Island of the Indians, and settled there, establishing the town of Pocasset, later named Portsmouth. He was named the first "Judge" of the colony, a Biblical term for Governor. A division in the leadership of this town occurred within a year, and he left with several others to establish the town of Newport at the south end of the island.