William Hutchinson (Rhode Island judge)

William Hutchinson
2nd Judge (governor) of the Town of Portsmouth
In office
1639–1640
Preceded byWilliam Coddington
Succeeded byWilliam Coddington as Governor of Newport and Portsmouth
Personal details
Bornbaptised 14 August 1586
Alford, Lincolnshire, England
Died1641
Portsmouth, Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations)
SpouseAnne Hutchinson
ChildrenEdward, Susanna, Richard, Faith, Bridget, Francis, Elizabeth, William, Samuel, Anne, Mary, Katherine, William, Susanna, Zuriel
OccupationMerchant, deputy, magistrate, selectman, treasurer, judge (governor)

William Hutchinson (1586–1641) was a judge at Portsmouth in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. He sailed from England to New England in 1634 with his large family. He became a merchant in Boston and served as both Deputy to the General Court and selectman. His wife was Anne Hutchinson who became embroiled in a theological controversy with the Puritan leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony which resulted in her banishment in 1638. The Hutchinsons and 18 others departed to form the new settlement of Pocasset on the Narragansett Bay, which was renamed Portsmouth and became one of the original towns in the Rhode Island colony.

Hutchinson became treasurer in Portsmouth, and William Coddington was the judge (or governor). A controversy compelled Coddington to relocate in 1639 and establish the town of Newport, at which time Hutchinson became the chief magistrate of Portsmouth. This lasted for less than a year, however, as he died shortly after June 1641, and his widow and many of her younger children moved to New Netherland (later in the Bronx in New York City). Mrs. Hutchinson and all but one of her children perished shortly after, massacred by Indians.

William Hutchinson was described by Governor John Winthrop as being mild tempered, somewhat weak, and living within the shadow of his prominent and outspoken wife.