Thomas Weld

Background

Thomas Weld was born in Sudbury, Suffolk, the fourth son of Edmond Weld, a well-to-do mercer, and Amy his wife.

Education

Thomas matriculated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and was graduated B. A. , 1613/14 and M. A. , 1618.

Career

Ordained deacon at Peterborough, March 1, 1617/18, and priest the following day, he was successively vicar at Haverhill, Suffolk, and Terling, Essex. As early as November 25, 1630, his nonconformity attracted Laud's attention and on November 24, 1631, the Court of High Commission deposed him "for his contumacy. " On June 5, 1632, he arrived in Boston, and a month later became first pastor of the church at Roxbury. In the following November, John Eliot was associated with him as teacher. Weld was a leading minister in the Bay Colony. When the Antinomian controversy arose, he actively attempted to convince the followers of Mrs. Anne Hutchinson of their errors, and participated in the trials of the Antinomian leaders. In 1638 he was chosen overseer of Harvard College. With Eliot and Richard Mather he prepared the metrical translation of the Psalms known as the "Bay Psalm Book, " the first book printed in English America (The Whole Booke of Psalmes, 1640). In 1641, with Hugh Peter and William Hibbins, he was sent by the General Court to England to seek financial aid for the colony and to further the work of English church reformation. Within a year the agents collected nearly £2000 in money and supplies, although their subsequent efforts were less fruitful. To advertise their mission, Weld and Peter edited and in part wrote New England's First Fruits (London, 1643). Meanwhile, in 1642, Hibbins had returned to Boston, and the other agents' energies were dissipated in pious but ill-managed attempts to send homeless children to New England. Soon Peter embarked in parliamentary service, leaving Weld the only active Bay Colony agent. He secured Harvard's first scholarship fund (Davis, post), but failed to forestall Roger Williams' attempt to secure a patent to the Narragansett territory. This failure, the agents' activity in English internal affairs, and their diminished colonial collections led to their curt dismissal, October 1, 1645. Strained relations between the Bay Colony and its erstwhile agents continued. The agents secured for specific colonial purposes funds which the General Court frequently misapplied. English donors, suspecting misappropriations, accused Weld and Peter of embezzlement and refused to donate to the New England Company of 1649. Inadequate bookkeeping beclouded the issues. Weld submitted statements to the General Court and the English corporation and prepared for publication "Innocency Cleared, " a defense of himself and Peter. In 1654 the corporation vindicated them. Like Peter, Weld became enmeshed in English affairs. He plotted the sending of Laud to New England in lieu of execution and in December 1643 heatedly upbraided the aged prelate in the Tower for suspending him. In 1644, Weld published An Answer to W. R. , a defense of New England against William Rathband's attacks. Unable readily to accept the tolerating principles of English Independents, he was induced by Presbyterian plotters to edit with additions Governor Winthrop's manuscript account of New England's Antinomian troubles. The resulting book, A Short Story of the Rise, Reign, and Ruine of the Antinomians (1644), by emphasizing Congregational intolerance, jeopardized the Independents' political aspirations and placed Weld in an uncomfortable position, but he recovered his standing by publishing A Brief Narration of the Practices of the Churches in New-England. He served as rector at Wanlip, Leicester, for a time in 1646, and on Feburary 1, 1649/50 was installed at St. Mary's, Gateshead, Durham, where he actively supported the Commonwealth and in various pamphlets denounced Quakerism, uncovered "Jesuit plots, " and opposed Anabaptists. Excluding all but the "elect" from the sacraments, he alienated the majority of his people, and shortly before the Restoration he prudently withdrew from Gateshead. Retiring to London, he signed the Congregational ministers' "Renunciation" of Venner's insurrection in January 1661 and died two months later.

Achievements

• He was the first minister of The First Church in Roxbury in Roxbury, Massachusetts from 1632 to 1641. Two buildings at Harvard (Weld Hall and Weld Boathouse) are named for his descendants.

Connections

He was married three times. His first wife, Margaret Deresleye, died at Roxbury after bearing four sons; his second, Judith, whom he married at Roxbury, was buried at Gateshead, May 4, 1656; the third, Margaret, survived him.

Father:

Edmond Weld

Mother:

Amy

Spouse:

Margaret Deresleye

Spouse:

Margaret

Spouse:

Judith