colony · North America and Oceania

Saybrook Colony

1635 CE – 1644 CE · capital Saybrook

A short-lived English fort colony at the mouth of the Connecticut River, planned as a refuge for Puritan lords and sold to Connecticut in 1644.

Origins

In 1632 a group of Puritan aristocrats, led by Viscount Saye and Sele and Lord Brooke, obtained the Warwick Patent to land in southern New England. In 1635 John Winthrop the Younger, acting as their governor, sent men to build a fort at the mouth of the Connecticut River, named Saybrook after the two patrons.

Rule and society

The engineer Lion Gardiner built and commanded the fort, which was meant to guard the river and prepare a home for the lords and their followers, who never came. The settlement remained a small garrison with a few families. During the Pequot War it was besieged by the Pequot Nation in 1636 to 1637 and served as a base for English expeditions. George Fenwick, one of the patentees, later lived there as governor.

Decline and legacy

With the English Civil War keeping the patrons at home, Fenwick sold the fort and its land to the Connecticut Colony in 1644. The town of Old Saybrook preserves the name.

Lineage

Saybrook ColonyConnecticut Colony 1636 CE – 1776 CE

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Saybrook Colony. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/saybrook-colony
MLA
“Saybrook Colony.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/saybrook-colony. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Saybrook Colony.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/saybrook-colony.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Saybrook Colony’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/saybrook-colony (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻