Born in West Suffolk, England, John Winthrop made major contributions in the founding and chronicling of the history of New England. An attorney and justice of the peace, Winthrop lost a profitable government appointment in 1629, because of his Puritan leanings. In that same year, he was elected governor of the new colony to be founded in America by the Massachusetts Bay Company. Winthrop served as governor in Massachusetts from 1630 to 1634, from 1637 to 1640, and finally from 1646 to 1649. Winthrop provided the best primary source of information on early Massachusetts Bay by maintaining a journal that was later published as The History of New England (1825-26).