Upon arrival, he denied the invitation to associate with the Anglican Puritans there. On February 5, 1631, he arrived at Boston with Mary. In 1630, he felt he needed to leave England because of his views on the freedom of worship. Together, the couple had six children (all were born later in America). He married Mary Barnard in December of 1629. Through Masham, Williams gained connections to Puritans such as Oliver Cromwell and Thomas Hooker. He graduated college in 1627.Īfter graduating, he became a chaplain to the family of a wealthy Puritan gentleman, Sir William Masham.

Williams especially had a knack for different languages and spoke Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Coke influenced Williams to attend Charter House in London and then Cambridge University. During his teenage years, Williams grew up as the protege of well-known jurist, Sir Edward Coke. The exact date is unknown due to the Great Fire of London in 1666 in which his birth records were burned. Roger Williams was born in 1603 in London, England to James Williams and Alice Pemberton.

Roger williams