Richard Dummer

Richard Dummer (c.1589—14 December 1679) was an early settler in New England who has been described as "one of the fathers of Massachusetts".

He made his fortune as a trader, operating out of the port of Southampton, England. He was a Puritan, which at times was contrary to the Established Church and the monarch. He emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, becoming a founding father there, setting up a stock company, acquiring estates, and establishing a milling business. His eldest son was slain by Indians. Another of his sons was the first American-born silversmith. His grandson William was Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay and instrumental in bringing to an end the Indian Wars, and bequeathed his estates to trustees for the establishment of what became the Governor Dummer Academy, the first school of its kind in the province.

Dummer was born in Bishopstoke, Hampshire, the son of Thomas and Joane Dummer; as the parish registers have been lost, there is no record of his birth or baptism, although it is likely that he was born at Bishopstoke around 1589.

He trained as an attorney, and was involved with his brothers in maritime import and export from the nearby port of Southampton, becoming a competent seaman and attaining the status of "master".

Dummer became closely associated with the radical Puritan malcontent Stephen Bachiler, who wanted to take his flock at Newton Stacey (near Wherwell, Hampshire) to New England. Bachiler married Helena Mason, the widow of Revd. Thomas Mason of Odiham, and Dummer married Mary Jane, the daughter of Helena and Thomas Mason.

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