Editing Ralph Cudworth (section)

===Marriage (1654) and 14th Master of Christ's College (1654–1688)===
[[File:Cambridge - St Andrews Street - Christ's College - First Court - View ENE.jpg|thumb|upright|First Court, Christ's College, Cambridge]]
Despite his worsening sight, Cudworth was elected (29 October 1654) and admitted (2 November 1654), as 14th Master of [[Christ's College, Cambridge|Christ's College]].<ref>'1654, Oct. 29. Dr Cudworth was chosen Master of Christ's College, admitted Nov. 2.': J. Crossley, ''Diary and Correspondence of Dr John Worthington'' (Chetham Society, O.S., 13 (1847), i, p. 52.</ref> His appointment coincided with his marriage to Damaris (died 1695), daughter (by his first wife, Damaris) of [[Matthew Cradock]] (died 1641), first [[Governor]] of the [[Massachusetts Bay Company]]. Hence Worthington commented "After many tossings Dr Cudworth is through God's good Providence returned to Cambridge and settled in Christ's College, and by his marriage more settled and fixed."<ref>Letter of John Worthington (30 January 1654/5) quoted in Mosheim's Preface (1733), i, p. xxviii (1773 edn)</ref>

In his Will (1641), [[Matthew Cradock]] had divided his estate beside the [[Mystic River]] at [[Medford, Massachusetts]] (which he had never visited, and was managed on his behalf)<ref>C. Seaburg and A. Seaburg, ''Medford on the Mystic'' (Medford Historical Society, 1980).</ref> into two moieties: one was bequeathed to his daughter Damaris Cradock (died 1695), (later wife of Ralph Cudworth Jnr); and one was to be enjoyed by his widow Rebecca (during her lifetime), and afterwards to be inherited by his brother, Samuel Cradock (1583–1653), and his heirs male.<ref>Will of Mathew Cradock of London, Merchant (P.C.C. 1641); C. Brooks, ''The History of the Town of Medford'' (J.M. Usher: Boston, 1855), [https://archive.org/details/historyoftownofm00brooks/page/90 pp. 90–92] (Internet Archive).</ref> Samuel Cradock's son, [[Samuel Cradock]] Jnr (1621–1706), was admitted to Emmanuel (1637), graduated (BA (1640–1); MA (1644); BD (1651)), was later a Fellow (1645–56), and pupil of [[Benjamin Whichcote]]'s.<ref>Venn, ''[[Alumni Cantabrigienses]]'', i(1), p. 411; J.C. Whitebrook, 'Samuel Cradock, cleric and pietist (1620–1706): and Matthew Cradock, first governor of Massachusetts', ''Congregational History Society'', 5(3), (1911), pp. 183–90; S. Handley, 'Cradock, Samuel (1620/21–1706), nonconformist minister', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''.</ref> After part of the Medford estate was rented to Edward Collins (1642), it was placed in the hands of an attorney; the widow Rebecca Cradock (whose second and third husbands were Richard Glover and [[Benjamin Whichcote]], respectively), petitioned the General Court of Massachusetts, and the legatees later sold the estate to Collins (1652).<ref>Brooks, ''The History of the Town of Medford'', [https://archive.org/details/historyoftownofm00brooks/page/57 pp 41–43], and [https://archive.org/details/historyoftownofm00brooks/page/92 p. 93] (Internet Archive).</ref><ref>'Cradock, Craddock', in C.H. Pope, ''The Pioneers of Massachusetts: A Descriptive List'' (Boston 1900), [https://archive.org/details/pioneersofmassac00pope/page/120 pp. 121–22] (Internet Archive).</ref>

The marriage of the widow Rebecca Cradock to Cudworth's colleague [[Benjamin Whichcote]] laid the way for the union between Cudworth and her stepdaughter Damaris (died 1695), which reinforced the connections between the two scholars through a familial bond. Damaris had first married (1642)<ref>R. Brenner, ''Merchants and Revolution: Commercial Change, Political Conflict, and London's Overseas Traders, 1550–1663'' (Verso: London, 2003), [https://books.google.com/books?id=amFQ3gq-SjQC&pg=PA139 p. 139] (Google).</ref> Thomas Andrewes Jnr (died 1653) of London and Feltham, son of Sir [[Thomas Andrewes]] (died 1659), ([[Lord Mayor of London]], 1649, 1651–2), which union had produced several children. The Andrewes family were also engaged in the Massachusetts project, and strongly supported puritan causes.<ref>Will of Thomas Andrewes, Leather seller of London (P.C.C. 1653). These relationships are confirmed by these wills and the Chancery case ''Andrewes v Glover'' (National Archives, London); W.G. Watkins, 'Notes from English Records', ''New England Historical and Genealogical Register'', 64 (1910), [https://archive.org/stream/newenglandhistor1910wate#page/84/mode/2up pp. 84–87.]</ref>