Dudley Hussey (-17 November 1785) was an Irish politician and judge. He sat in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fran ...

for Taghmon and served briefly as

Recorder of Dublin Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * '' Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a new ...

. His promising career was cut short by his early death, which was probably due to

gaol fever Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

. He was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, the eldest son of Miles Hussey of

Abbey Street Abbey Street () is located on Dublin's Northside, running from the Customs House and Store Street in the east to Capel Street in the west. The street is served by two Luas light rail stops, one at the Jervis shopping centre and the other ne ...

(died 1771), a teacher of mathematics. He entered the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

and was called to the Bar in 1766. He became MP for

Taghmon Taghmon (; ) is a village in County Wexford, Ireland. It lies on the R738 regional road, 14 km west of Wexford town and 25 km east-southeast of New Ross. History It can be established, from historical records, that the area now com ...

in 1783. Taghmon was a

rotten borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorate ...

and he is said to have paid a considerable sum to secure his election. In 1784 he was elected Recorder of Dublin, beating three other candidates for the office (the Recorder was not a Crown appointment but was elected by

Dublin Corporation Dublin Corporation (), known by generations of Dubliners simply as ''The Corpo'', is the former name of the city government and its administrative organisation in Dublin since the 1100s. Significantly re-structured in 1660-1661, even more sign ...

). However, he died in November of the following year, reportedly from gaol fever caught while inspecting a prison. He married in 1775 Susanna Darragh, only daughter of John Darragh, a wealthy merchant who sold glass and china at Lower Ormond Quay, Dublin: he was

Lord Mayor of Dublin The Lord Mayor of Dublin ( ga, Ardmhéara Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the honorary title of the chairperson ( ga, Cathaoirleach, links=no ) of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. Th ...

in 1781-2. His wife was Mary Newton, who died in 1799. John Darragh in 1782 built an impressive country house, Darraghville, at

Kilcoole Kilcoole () is a village in County Wicklow, Ireland. It is three kilometres (2 miles) south of Greystones, 14 kilometres (9 miles) north of Wicklow, and about 28 kilometres (17 miles) south of Dublin. It was used as the set for the Irish te ...

, County Wicklow, which still exists, though it has been extensively rebuilt. The estate was previously called Godden. Dudley and Susanna had no children, but his sister Mrs. Hughes named her son, Dudley Hussey Hughes, after her brother. Susanna died in 1787 and her estate reverted to her mother. On her mother's death in 1799 ownership of Darraghville passed to her nephew George Newton. It subsequently became a

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglic ...

. Dudley was a member of the popular drinking club called the Monks of the Screw (or the Order of St. Patrick), and he was one of the original shareholders in the Bank of Ireland. He lived at St. Stephen's Green in central Dublin. He was remembered as a man "whose amiable qualities, whether considered as friend, senator or judge, make his loss truly irreparable".

Sources

*Johnson-Liik, E.M. ''MPs in Dublin: Companion to History of the Irish Parliament 1692-1800'' Ulster Historical Foundation 2006 *''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' 12 April 2017 *''Gentleman's Magazine'' 1785 *''Hibernian Magazine'' 1784 *''Walker's Magazine'' 1787 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hussey, Dudley Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Wexford constituencies Members of the Middle Temple 1785 deaths Politicians from Dublin (city) Recorders of Dublin Year of birth uncertain Lawyers from Dublin (city)