he wrote a letter to Governor John Winthrop in Massachusetts in August 1644, letting it be known that he would rather have an alliance with Massachusetts or Plymouth than with Providence. This did not happen, but Coddington did manage to resist union with Providence until 1647, when representatives of the four towns finally met and adopted the Williams Patent of 1643. This is also the year that Coddington's second wife Mary died in Newport. The General Court (later the General Assembly) met in Providence in May 1648, and Coddington was elected president of the entire colony. He did not attend the meeting, however, probably because he did not support the patent. Charges were subsequently brought against him, though the nature of them was not recorded, and he was replaced as governor by Jeremy Clarke. The 1643 patent created little more than a confederation of independent governments. In September 1648, Coddington made application for admission of the two island towns into the New England Confederation. The ensuing reply let him know that the island would have to submit to the Plymouth government to be considered. This was unacceptable to Coddington who wanted colonial independence for the two island towns. They had a well-organized government in which civil and religious liberty had been clearly defined and fully recognized, as did Providence, and these liberties would be lost in a government under Plymouth. Coddington commission Exasperated by the situation, Coddington decided to go to England and present his case to the Colonial Commissioners in London, leaving his farm and business interests in the hands of an agent. He arrived in England to find the country in the midst of a civil war, and he was delayed in getting the attention of the proper authorities. He eventually met with his old friend and associate from Boston Sir Harry Vane. Vane had helped Roger Williams obtain his patent, and he was now called upon to advise Coddington as to a course of action. Governor Josiah Winslow of the Plymouth Colony was also in London at the same time, urging Plymouth's claims to the two island towns. On 6 March 1650, Coddington presented his petition for an independent colonial government on Rhode Island, free from the claims of Plymouth and free from union with Providence. In April 1651, the Council of State of England gave Coddington the commission of a separate government for Rhode Island (i.e.,