Benjamin Lynde Sr.

American judge (1666–1749)

Harvard College

OccupationJudge

Spouse(s)Mary Browne Lynde

ChildrenBenjamin Lynde Jr.

Benjamin Lynde (September 22, 1666 – January 28, 1745)^[1] was a lawyer and magistrate of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Born in Salem, he was sent to England by his parents, where he read law at the Middle Temple. He was the first Chief Justice (appointed associate 1712, chief justice 1729) of the Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature, the province's highest court, to have formal training as a lawyer. Lynde's family gave its name to the town of Lyndeborough, New Hampshire,^[2] established in an area where they had extensive land holdings. His son Benjamin Jr. also served as a Massachusetts chief justice.

References

^ "The diaries of Benjamin Lynde and of Benjamin Lynde, Jr.; with an appendix". HathiTrust. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
^ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 192.

Davis, William. History of the Judiciary of Massachusetts

Legal offices
Preceded by John Walley	Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature 1712–1728	Succeeded by John Cushing Sr.
Preceded by Samuel Sewall	Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature 1729–1745	Succeeded by Paul Dudley