![Dudley Castle -England-7](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Dudley_Castle_-England-7.jpg)
Edward Sutton, 5th Baron Dudley (baptised 17 September 1567 – 23 June 1643) was a major landowner, mainly in
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
and
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...
, and briefly a Member of the
House of Commons of England
The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England (which incorporated Wales) from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of ...
.
[History of Parliament Online: 1558–1603 Members – DUDLEY, alias SUTTON, Edward (Author: J.E.M.)]
/ref> Through his intemperate behaviour he won widespread notoriety, completed the financial ruin of his family, and was the last of his name to bear the title.
Background and early life
Sutton's father was Edward Sutton, 4th Baron Dudley
Edward Sutton, 4th Baron Dudley (circa 1515 – 12 July 1586). The oldest son and heir of John Sutton, 3rd Baron Dudley. He was an English nobleman and soldier. Contemporary sources also refer to him as ''Sir Edward Dudley''.
Life
He served in Ir ...
, a distinguished soldier who managed to regain the family estates after they were forfeit to John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland
John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland (1504Loades 2008 – 22 August 1553) was an Kingdom of England, English general, admiral, and politician, who led the government of the young King Edward VI from 1550 until 1553, and unsuccessfully tried ...
as a result of debt. His mother was the 4th Baron's second wife, Jane Stanley, daughter of Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby
Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby KG (c. 10 May 1509 – 24 October 1572) was an English nobleman and politician. He reigned over the Isle of Mann until his death, and then was succeeded by his son.
Early life
At the age of thirteen, Edwa ...
. He had a younger brother, John, and an elder half-sister, Agnes, by his father's first wife.
Edward Sutton is believed to have been born in September 1567 as he was baptised
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
on 17 September 1567. In 1580, at the aged of 13, he was sent to Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, situated on Turl Street in central Oxford. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Fleming, the ...
, and the following year, when only 14 years old, was married to Theodosia Harington of Exton, Rutland
Exton is a village in Rutland, England. The population was 607 at the 2011 census. The civil parish was abolished in 2016 and merged with Horn to form Exton and Horn.
The village
The village's name means 'farm/settlement which has oxen'.
Th ...
who was about 5 years older.
Lord Dudley's players
Sutton was the patron of a group of actors, known as Lord Dudley's players, and a performing bear. In 1595 he drew up a warrant for his company led by Francis Coffyn and Laurence Bradshaw to travel and perform. Sutton revoked this license and patronised a different group of actors, but some actors tried unsuccessfully to use the cancelled 1595 warrant in Chester in November 1602.
Lord Dudley's players were in Newcastle in March 1600. In 1615 the leader of the company was called Dishley.
Political career
Edward Sutton was elected as one of the two knights of the shire
Knight of the shire ( la, milites comitatus) was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistribution ...
for Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
in 1584. Still only 17 years old, he was returned ahead in order of precedence
An order of precedence is a sequential hierarchy of nominal importance and can be applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. Most often it is used in the context of people by many organizations and governments, for very formal and state o ...
of Edward Legh. It is not clear how this was achieved. Legh was made High Sheriff of Staffordshire This is a list of the sheriffs and high sheriffs of Staffordshire.
The sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. The sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities ass ...
on the day of the election and had to be given leave of absence by Parliament. Sutton made no recorded contributions in the Commons. He succeeded his father in 1586 and so was unable to stand for election that year. Despite his apparent anxiety to serve in the councils of his country, Sutton did not take his seat in the House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
until 1593.
Sutton's most important political intervention came through the Staffordshire election scandal of 1597.[The History of Parliament: Constituencies 1558–1603 – Staffordshire]
/ref> Pursuing a property dispute with the Worcestershire Lytteltons, Sutton put up his brother John as a candidate, in an attempt to stop the election of Sir Edward Littleton of Pillaton Hall
Pillaton Hall was an historic house located in Pillaton, Staffordshire, near Penkridge, England. For more than two centuries it was the seat of the Littleton family, a family of local landowners and politicians. The 15th century gatehouse is the ...
, a close ally of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG, PC (; 10 November 1565 – 25 February 1601) was an English nobleman and a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following a ...
. Sutton ensured success by procuring a blank election return from Thomas Whorwood, the High Sheriff, who was John Sutton's father-in-law. Littleton, cheated of certain victory, filed bills against the Suttons and Whorwood in Star Chamber
The Star Chamber (Latin: ''Camera stellata'') was an English court that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster, from the late to the mid-17th century (c. 1641), and was composed of Privy Counsellors and common-law judges, to supplement the judic ...
.
Among his complaints against Lord Dudley was that he had personally voted for his brother in the voice vote
In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding vo ...
at Stafford
Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...
. As a peer, Sutton should have no part in elections to the Commons, Littleton maintained, apparently the first time this constitutional principle was expressed. The other candidate, Sir Christopher Blount
Sir Christopher Blount (1555/1556Hammer 2008 – 18 March 1601) was an English soldier, secret agent, and rebel. He served as a leading household officer of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester. A Catholic, Blount corresponded with Mary, Queen of ...
, Essex's stepfather, was also offended at having been placed below Sutton on the election indenture. His wife, Essex's mother, wrote to the Earl complaining about the outrage, and Sutton was summoned before the Privy Council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
.
However, the parliament was soon over, and it appears that Littleton chose to concentrate his efforts on the hapless Whorwood. Although his chicanery and bad manners had alienated some of the greatest in the land, the consequences for Sutton might have been worse.
Landowner and industrialist
Edward Sutton spent most of his life pressured by the authorities to meet debts that were beyond his ability to pay, partly inherited from his father, and partly the result of his own poor management of his resources.
Lord Dudley, like his immediate ancestors, owned substantial estates around Dudley Castle
Dudley Castle is a ruined fortification in the town of Dudley, West Midlands, England. Originally a wooden motte and bailey castle built soon after the Norman Conquest, it was rebuilt as a stone fortification during the twelfth century but subs ...
including the manors of Dudley
Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...
, Sedgley
Sedgley is a town in the north of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England.
Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, Sedgley is on the A459 road between Wolverhampt ...
and Kingswinford
Kingswinford is a town of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the English West Midlands, situated west-southwest of central Dudley. In 2011 the area had a population of 25,191, down from 25,808 at the 2001 Census.
The current economic focus ...
. He developed the mineral resources of these estates, building (probably) five blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric ...
s on them. He obtained a licence to use the patent of John Robinson (or Rovenson) for making iron with pitcoal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
(that is, mineral coal) in 1619, and in 1622 renewed this patent in his own name. Sutton was said to be an innovator who set up an early reverberatory furnace
A reverberatory furnace is a metallurgical or process furnace that isolates the material being processed from contact with the fuel, but not from contact with combustion gases. The term ''reverberation'' is used here in a generic sense of ''rebo ...
using coal and a glassworks directed by Paul Tissac, or Tyzack, where coal rather than wood was first used as fuel. These projects brought him no profit.
Edward Sutton brought his illegitimate son Dud Dudley
Dudd (Dud) Dudley (1600–1684) was an English metallurgist, who fought on the Royalist side in the English Civil War as a soldier, military engineer, and supplier of munitions. He was one of the first Englishmen to smelt iron ore using coke.
B ...
home from Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...
to manage his ironworks, but this strategy was not entirely successful. Ultimately Edward Sutton fell out with Dud and expelled Dud from the new coke-fired blast furnace that Edward had built at Hasco Bridge on the boundary between Gornal and Himley
Himley is a small village and civil parish in the English ceremonial county of Staffordshire, situated 4 miles west of Dudley and 5 miles southwest of Wolverhampton. At the time of the 2011 Census, Himley had a population of 802.It is most n ...
. Debts continued to grow, and by 1593 the estate had been sequestrated.
The ironworks were essential because the family's debts were already so large that Lord Edward's father's will had earmarked all the proceeds of his ironworks for 21 years to pay creditors, who were given precedence over his widow and younger children. Money issues soured relations with John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
, Edward Sutton's younger brother.
John had been compensated for his exclusion from a portion of his father's estate by the promise of an annuity from his brother, which Edward never paid. The electoral fraud of 1597 might have helped John establish new contacts and income streams, but the parliament lasted little more than three months and the scandal made any further parliamentary career impossible for him.
Always short of money, Edward Sutton fought numerous battles to maintain his inheritance and income, many of them through violence. His most bitter feud was with Gilbert Lyttelton, centred on the farm of Prestwood
Prestwood is a village in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the Chiltern Hills, about two miles west of Great Missenden and six miles north of High Wycombe.
History
Early history and creation of parish
The village name is Anglo Sax ...
, near Kinver
Kinver is a large village in the District of South Staffordshire in Staffordshire, England. It is in the far south-west of the county, at the end of the narrow finger of land surrounded by the counties of Shropshire, Worcestershire and the We ...
, and reached its height in the 1590s. Prestwood is at the confluence of the River Smestow
The Smestow Brook, sometimes called the River Smestow, is a small river that plays an important part in the drainage of Wolverhampton, South Staffordshire, and parts of Dudley in the United Kingdom, and has contributed to the industrial developm ...
and the Worcestershire Stour.
Sutton had Lyttelton ejected by force. He then claimed the right to seize outlaws' goods on other Lyttelton estates and raided them, driving off the sheep and cattle. Extending the dispute still further, he claimed one of Lyttelton's coal mines. He had the miners arrested, confiscated the stocks of coal and set the mine on fire. The Privy Council summoned Lord Dudley and tried to reason with him, to no effect. Lyttelton complained to the Star Chamber
The Star Chamber (Latin: ''Camera stellata'') was an English court that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster, from the late to the mid-17th century (c. 1641), and was composed of Privy Counsellors and common-law judges, to supplement the judic ...
, which found in his favour, fining Sutton heavily for rioting and cattle rustling. It was this that led Sutton to attempt revenge by blocking Edward Littleton's election, as he was a distant kinsman of Gilbert Lyttelton.
Feelings were very bitter on both sides. The Privy Council had to write to the Worcestershire assize
The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes e ...
s in July 1598, demanding action against two of Gilbert Lyttelton's sons, Stephen and John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
, who had attacked John Sutton and his retainers, although the Suttons had already lost the property dispute.
Marriage and family
Dudley was married at the age of 14 to Theodosia Harington
Theodosia Harington, Lady Dudley (died 1649) was an English aristocrat who was abandoned by her husband, but maintained connections at court through her extensive family networks.
Early life
She was the eighth daughter of Sir James Harington of ...
(d. 1649). She was the daughter of James Harington of Exton, Rutland
Exton is a village in Rutland, England. The population was 607 at the 2011 census. The civil parish was abolished in 2016 and merged with Horn to form Exton and Horn.
The village
The village's name means 'farm/settlement which has oxen'.
Th ...
, a lawyer and long-serving MP. The Haringtons were the most important landowners in Rutland
Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire.
Its greatest len ...
and Theodosia's eldest brother, John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
, was created Baron Harington of Exton in 1603. Dudley and Theodosia had a son and four daughters:
:*Sir Ferdinando Sutton (1588-1621), who married Honora Seymour, a daughter of Edward Seymour, Viscount Beauchamp
Edward Seymour, Lord Beauchamp of Hache (21 September 1561 – 21 July 1612) was an English nobleman who had a theoretically strong claim to the throne of England through his mother, Lady Katherine Grey, but his legitimacy was questioned. He was ...
, who was considered by some a potential claimant to the throne on the death of Elizabeth I.
:* Mary Sutton (1586–1645), who married Alexander Home, 1st Earl of Home
Sir Alexander Home of that Ilk, 1st Lord Home ( – ) was in 1448 Sheriff Deputy for Berwickshire, and was made a Lord of Parliament on 2 August 1473. He is an ancestor of the Earls of Home.
Family
Alexander Home's father, Sir Alexander Home of t ...
.
:*Anne Sutton
Anne Sutton (1589 – 1615) was an English lady-in-waiting who was a companion of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia. She was the daughter of Edward Sutton, 5th Baron Dudley and Theodosia Harington. Sutton was known as "Mrs Anne Dudley" or "Mis ...
(1589-1615), who married Hans Meinhard von Schönberg Count Hans Meinhard von Schönberg auf Wesel (German: ''Graf Hans Meinhard von Schönberg auf Wesel'') (28 August 1582 – 3 August 1616) was a German nobleman and soldier, who served as '' hofmeister'' of Frederick V, Elector Palatine.
Biography
H ...
, the Palatine
A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times. Ambassador to England: their son was Frederick Schomberg, 1st Duke of Schomberg
Friedrich Hermann von Schönberg, 1st Duke of Schomberg, 1st Count of Mertola, (french: Frédéric-Armand; pt, Armando Frederico; 6 December 1615 – 1 July 1690) was a Marshal of France and a General in the English and Portuguese Army. He was ...
.
:*Margaret Sutton (1597-1674), who in 1627 married Sir Miles Hobart, Knight of the Bath, of Fleet Street
Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...
in the City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...
and of Little Plumstead
Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt
* ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film
*The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...
in Norfolk, a son of Henry Hobart of Plumstead by his wife Willoughby Hopton, a daughter of Arthur Hopton of Blythburgh
Blythburgh is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. It is west of Southwold and south-east of Halesworth and lies on the River Blyth. The A12 road runs through the village which is split ...
and Witham
Witham () is a town in the county of Essex in the East of England, with a population ( 2011 census) of 25,353. It is part of the District of Braintree and is twinned with the town of Waldbröl, Germany. Witham stands between the city of Che ...
. They had sons Edward, Miles, Tom, John and James, and a daughter Willoughby. She was buried at St Margaret's, Westminster.
:*Theodosia Sutton (1599-1615).
Lord Dudley also had a longtime mistress Elizabeth Tomlinson
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist
Ships
* HMS Elizabeth, HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships
* Elisa ...
, who bore him a large family of illegitimate children, at least 11 in number. Lord Dudley provided for this second family. The eldest Robert Dudley otherwise Tomlinson
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
was given a small estate at Netherton in Dudley
Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...
. Another son Dud Dudley
Dudd (Dud) Dudley (1600–1684) was an English metallurgist, who fought on the Royalist side in the English Civil War as a soldier, military engineer, and supplier of munitions. He was one of the first Englishmen to smelt iron ore using coke.
B ...
was given a lease of Chasepool Lodge in Swindon, Staffordshire
Swindon is a village and civil parish located in the West Midlands. The nearest major town is Dudley, approximately five miles eastwards. It stands today that Swindon is in fact actually in Wombourne and used to be where less wealthy people would ...
. A daughter Jane was grandmother to ironmaster Abraham Darby I
Abraham Darby, in his later life called Abraham Darby the Elder, now sometimes known for convenience as Abraham Darby I (14 April 1677 – 5 May 1717, the first and best known of several men of that name), was an English ironmaster and foundr ...
.
At the Star Chamber, Gilbert Lyttelton attempted to discredit Dudley by claiming that he had abandoned his wife in London without support to live with Elizabeth Tomlinson, "a lewd and infamous woman, a base collier's daughter". The Privy Council ordered Dudley to pay his wife an allowance, which he failed to do. In August 1597 he was sent to Fleet Prison. He was released after a few days, on condition that he pay maintenance of £100 annually for his wife, and £20 for each legitimate child. In less than 18 months he was back before the Privy Council, having got into arrears.[Henry Sydney Grazebrook, 'An Account of the Barons of Dudley', ''Collections for a History of Staffordshire'', vol. 9 (1880), p. 112.]
Dudley's legitimate son, Ferdinando, predeceased him, leaving a daughter Frances
Frances is a French and English given name of Latin origin. In Latin the meaning of the name Frances is 'from France' or 'free one.' The male version of the name in English is Francis. The original Franciscus, meaning "Frenchman", comes from the F ...
. Dudley married this granddaughter to Humble Ward, the son of a wealthy goldsmith, William Ward, who was one of his creditors.
Dudley died on 23 June 1643 and was buried in St Edmund's Church, Dudley
Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...
. Frances Ward inherited the estates, with their debts, and became Baroness Dudley suo jure
''Suo jure'' is a Latin phrase, used in English to mean 'in his own right' or 'in her own right'. In most nobility-related contexts, it means 'in her own right', since in those situations the phrase is normally used of women; in practice, especi ...
. Humble Ward paid the debts and redeemed the estates for the benefit of themselves and their descendants.
References
Further reading and external links
* 'A letter from Edward Sutton at Himley
Himley is a small village and civil parish in the English ceremonial county of Staffordshire, situated 4 miles west of Dudley and 5 miles southwest of Wolverhampton. At the time of the 2011 Census, Himley had a population of 802.It is most n ...
to Walter Bagot, 14 January 1603/4'
, Folger Shakespeare Library, Early Modern Manuscripts Online, L.a.433
* P. W. King, 'Dud Dudley's contribution to metallurgy' ''Hist. Metall.'' 22(1) (2002), 43–53.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dudley, Edward Sutton, 5th Baron
1567 births
1643 deaths
English MPs 1584–1585
English ironmasters
Edward
Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”.
History
The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...
Edward
Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”.
History
The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...
Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford
17th-century English nobility
16th-century English nobility
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