Thomas Weld (minister)

Thomas Weld ("bap." 1595, d. 1661 [Michael P. Winship, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/28986 ‘Weld, Thomas (bap. 1595, d. 1661)’] , "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 17 Sept 2008] ), who came to Boston on 5 June 1632 on the "William and Francis", was a Puritan emigrant from England and the first minister of the First Church in Roxbury, Massachusetts from 1632 to 1641.

He assisted in the composition of the "Bay Psalm Book " and became an overseer of the newly-founded Harvard College. He was also an inquisitor at the trial of Anne Hutchinson.

In 1641, he left most of his family in Massachusetts Bay Colony and returned to England on business for the General Court of Massachusetts. In England, Weld became a minister to Oliver Cromwell until his death.

Weld's son remained in Massachusetts, and was the ancestor of Theodore Dwight Weld and Ezra Greenleaf Weld, two important figures of the 19th century abolitionist movement.

Thomas Weld's younger brother, who also remained in the New World, was the ancestor of the richest and most famous of the Weld Family in America, including former Governor of Massachusetts William Weld and actress Tuesday Weld. Two buildings at Harvard (Weld Hall and Weld Boathouse) are named for his descendants.

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*worldcat id|lccn-n82-272448