EXHIBIT 23.1

                         CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT AUDITORS

The Board of Directors
Webster Financial Corporation:

We consent to  incorporation  by reference of our report dated January 28, 2000,
which  report  appears in the  December  31, 1999 annual  report on Form 10-K of
Webster Financial Corporation,  incorporated by reference in this Post-Effective
Amendment No. 1 to the Registration  Statement of Webster Financial  Corporation
on Form  S-4 on Form S-8  (File  No.  333-88021) pertaining  to the New  England
Community Bancorp, Inc. 1997 Non-Officer  Directors' Stock Option Plan, the 1996
Incentive and Nonqualified  Compensatory  Stock Option Plan and the 1990 Bank of
South Windsor Non-Qualified Stock Option Plan.


                                               /s/ KPMG LLP

Hartford, Connecticut
June 30, 2000