Sir Henry Bate Dudley, 1st Baronet (25 August 1745 – 1 February 1824) was a British clergyman, magistrate and playwright. He was born in

Fenny Compton Fenny Compton is a village and parish in Warwickshire, England, eight miles north of Banbury. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 808. Its name comes from the Anglo-Saxon ''Fennig Cumbtūn'' meaning "marshy farmstead in a valley". In 14 ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

, but in 1763 his father moved the family to Essex to take up a rectory at North Fambridge near

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...

. He was educated at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

and ordained a priest of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

in 1768. On his father's death, Bate Dudley took over the benefice.Obituary, 1824, pp. 273-276. In Essex, he owned

Bradwell Lodge Bradwell Lodge is a country house in the village of Bradwell-on-Sea, on the Dengie Peninsula in Essex, England. Originally a Tudor rectory, in the 18th century the house was purchased by the Reverend Sir Henry Bate Dudley. Bate Dudley engaged ...

, a Tudor country house near

Bradwell-on-Sea Bradwell-on-Sea is a village and civil parish in Essex, England; it is on the Dengie peninsula. It is located north-north-east of Southminster and is east of the county town of Chelmsford. The village is in the District of Maldon and in th ...

and engaged the architect John Johnson to construct a large extension attached to the south side of the original house, designed in a Neoclassical style. In addition to his religious duties, Bate Dudley edited one newspaper, ''

The Morning Post ''The Morning Post'' was a conservative daily newspaper published in London from 1772 to 1937, when it was acquired by ''The Daily Telegraph''. History The paper was founded by John Bell. According to historian Robert Darnton, ''The Morning ...

'' and in 1780 founded another, the ''

Morning Herald The ''Morning Herald'' was an early daily newspaper in the United Kingdom. History The newspaper was founded in 1780 by the Reverend Sir Henry Bate Dudley, former editor of ''The Morning Post''. It was initially a liberal paper aligned with ...

'', courting controversy and enduring imprisonment as the "most notorious

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

in London." He wrote plays and was a close friend of both the actor

David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1716 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, Actor-manager, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil a ...

and the artist

Thomas Gainsborough Thomas Gainsborough (; 14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists o ...

, who twice painted his portrait. He was also a famous duellist, gaining the nickname, "The Fighting Parson". In 1781 Bate Dudley was imprisoned for a year for

libel Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

ling the

Duke of Richmond Duke of Richmond is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created four times in British history. It has been held by members of the royal Tudor and Stuart families. The current dukedom of Richmond was created in 1675 for Charles ...

. Bate Dudley was a great supporter of, and chronicled the life of the artist

. Much of this work was published in the ''

'' which Bate Dudley owned and ran, and ''The Morning Post'' with which he was also associated but had left to set up the ''Herald'' after a disagreement in 1780. Much of this was republished in 1915 in ''Life of Gainsborough'' by William Whitley. After meeting

James Townley Rev. James Townley (6 May 1714 – 15 July 1778) was an English dramatist, the second son of Charles Townley, a merchant. Early life, education and marriage Townley was born in 1714 probably at Tower Hill, London, the second son of Charles To ...

and being influenced by his farce '' High Life Below Stairs'' Bate Dudley started writing scripts for comic operas. Following his ''The Rival Candidates'', his libretto for '' The Flitch of Bacon'' (1778) was the first of his collaboration with the composer William Shield, whom he assisted in bringing to prominence. The Shield and Dudley operas also included ''The Woodman'' (1791) and '' Travellers in Switzerland'' (1794), and were produced at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

. For a time, between 1804 and 1812, Bate Dudley moved from

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

due to financial difficulties and took up a rectory in Kilscoran and

Kilglass Kilglass or Kilglas () is a rural townland in County Sligo, Ireland, in the hinterland of Enniscrone. Kilglass is in a civil parish of the same name. The area is the location of an Anglican church, built in 1829 with funding provided by the B ...

. He returned to England in 1812 to take up a rectory in

Willingham, Cambridgeshire Willingham is a village in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located in the South Cambridgeshire district and sits just outside the border of the Fens, just south of the River Great Ouse. Located approximately 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Cam ...

. In October of the same year he was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, of

Sloane Street Sloane Street is a major London street in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea which runs north to south, from Knightsbridge to Sloane Square, crossing Pont Street about halfway along. History Sloane Street takes its name from Sir Han ...

, Chelsea, in the County of Middlesex, and of Kilscoran House in the County of Wexford. Bate Dudley played a part in the suppression of the Ely and Littleport riots 1816. These were part of a more widespread discontent which affected

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England, which was historically a county in its own right. It borders Peterborough to the north, Fenland to the north-east, East Cambridgeshire to the e ...

and

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

. It had its roots in discontent over the

enclosure Enclosure or inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land", enclosing it, and by doing so depriving commoners of their traditional rights of access and usage. Agreements to enc ...

of the fenlands, but the high price of bread, poor pay of agricultural workers, and unemployment of soldiers returning from the

Napoleonic wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

were also factors. Bate Dudley, who was a magistrate at Ely at the time, organised opposition to the rioters at

Littleport Littleport is a town in East Cambridgeshire, in the Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about north-east of Ely and south-east of Welney, on the Bedford Level South section of the River Great Ouse, close to Burnt Fen and Mare Fe ...

, near Ely, where the insurgents were defeated, but only after troops opened fire on them.

Comic operas

*Sir Henry Bate Dudley, ''The Rival Candidates'', 1775. *William Shield, Sir Henry Bate Dudley, '' The Flitch of Bacon'', 1779. *William Shield, Sir Henry Bate Dudley, ''The Woodman'', 1791. *William Shield, Sir Henry Bate Dudley, ''Travellers in Switzerland'', 1794.See Fenner, ''Opera in London'', pp. 385-87 (as above).

References

Bibliography

*s.n.
"Obituary: Sir Henry Bate Dudley, Bart."
''The Gentleman's magazine'', pp. 273–276, 638–639, Vol. 135, 1824 *Edward Royle, ''Revolutionary Britannia?: reflections on the threat of revolution in Britain, 1789-1848'', Manchester University Press, 2000 . *William T. Whitley, ''Art of England 1821-1837'', Read Books, 2007 . {{DEFAULTSORT:Dudley, Henry 1745 births 1824 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom 19th-century English Anglican priests English dramatists and playwrights English justices of the peace English male dramatists and playwrights People from Stratford-on-Avon District People from Maldon District