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Meaning of the
Dudley Name, Origin and Early Family History
Blazon & Genealogy Notes:
John Dudley (Duke of Northumberland,
descended from Sir John Sutton, fourth
Lord Dudley, whose second son, John,
assumed the name of Dudley; his grandson
created Earl of Warwick 1547, and raised
to the dukedom 1551, attainted 1553).
(Earl of Warwick; the eldest surviving
son of the attainted duke was so created
1561, extinct 1589). (Earl of Leicester;
Robert Dudley, younger son of the
attainted duke, was so created 1561,
extinct 1588).Or, a lion ramp. az.
double queued vert.
Surname Name Meaning
&Origin:
This English and Irish name is a
locational last name meaning "of
Dudley", a prominent town and castle in
county Worcester. It derives from the
Old English Dode-ley, meaning the
place of the dead, or a burial ground.
In Danish, the word dodelig signifies
pale, death-like, or mortal, similar to
the German Todlichand the Dutch Doodelijk.
In the Domesday Book of 1086 AD the
locale was listed as "Dudelei" and in
the Assize Court Rolls of 1221 AD it was
listed as "Duddele".
Another source states it derives from
the Old English personal (first) name
Dudda and the word leah (woodland
clearing). One source claims Dudda is
Germanic and refers to a heavily built
man. It literally translates to "Dudda's
glade". It was adopted by the bearers of
the Gaelic O Dubhdaleithe 'descendant of Dubhdaleithe' ,which is a first name
consisting of the words dubh (black), da (two),
and leithe (sides).
In his book, Patronymica Britannica,
Mark Anthoy Lower writes the following
on this surname: "In Norman times it
was the fief of the De Someries, whose
descendants were barons by tenure,
though, as Sir H. Nicolas observes, it
is questionable whether their title was
that of 'Dudley'. Dudley, one of the
notorious extortioners of Henry VII.,
claimed to be a descendant of the
Suttons, barons Dudley, and his father
is said to have assumed the name of
Dudley, though a more probable account
makes him a travelling carpenter."The
book A Topographical Dictionary of
England authored by Samuel Lewis in 1848
states the following about this town and
name: "This place derives its name
from Dodo, or Dudp, a Saxon prince, by
whom it was owned at the time of the
heptarchy, and who built a castle here
about the year 700, which, during the
contest between Stephen and the Empress
Matila, was garrisoned for the latter by
Gervase Paganell, to whom the barony at
that time belonged."
The website suttonclonard states the
following: "John de Sutton was given
some land by the king, as a reward for
John's services to the king. The land
given to John was known as Dudda Leah or
Duddas Land, later changed to Dudley as
we all know, from the story above. When
John took processions of this land, he
became known as Sir John de Sutton, Lord
Dudley." Another website states: "The
family names of the Norman barons of
Dudley were Fitz Ansculf and Paganel. In
the Middle Ages the Sutton family
inherited the estates and the title of
Lord Dudley and gradually dropped the
Sutton in favour of Dudley as their
surname. Other branches of the family
appear to have used Dudley from the
start."
Spelling Variations
Some spelling variants include Dudly,
Dudlie, Duddley, and Dudleye.
Popularity & Geographic Distribution:
The last name ranks Montgomery ranks
246th in popularity in terms in the
United Status as of the 2000 Census. It
ranks highest in the five following
states: Virginia, Maine, Georgia,
Alabama, and Vermont. In England, the
name ranks 994th and
ranks highest in the following five
counties: Staffordshire, Warwickshire,
Worcestershire, Shropshire, and
Bedfordshire. It is also common
throughout the English speaking world:
South Africa (2,093), Canada (3,279),
Australia (1,485), New Zealand (1,320),
Wales (850), Scotland (2,133), and
Ireland (2,355).
Early Bearers of the Surname:
The earliest known bearer of this
surname was Gladdewin de Duddeleia who
was documented in the Pipe Rolls of
Staffordshire in 1176 AD. A one Perceval
de Duddelegh was recorded in the Testa
de Veille (during the reigns of Henry
III-Edward I).The Poll Tax of Yorkshire
in 1379 AD lists several bearers of this
last name: Willelmus Dudely, Isolda
Doudley, Johannes Dudly, and Magota
Duddely. A one John Dudleye was buried
at St. Michael's Cornhill in London in
1549. An early marriage involving this
surname was William Dudley to Mary
Foster, at St. George's Hanover Square
in 1789.
History, Genealogy, and Ancestry:
John Sutton IV became the third baron
Dudley and was born in 1361 in Coleshill,
Warwickshire, England. He married Joan
Crinnton and later Alice Despencer. He
had the following children: Robert
Sutton, John Sutton Dudley III, Hamon
Sutton, and Joan de Dutton. His son John
was born in 1380 and married Constance
Blount. They had issue: John, Hamon,
Thomas, and Humphrey.
Sir Edmund Sutton (also known as Dudley)
was born in 1425 in Dudley,
Worcestershire. He married Joyce Tiptoft
and later Matilda Clifford. He had the
following issue: Dorothy (Wrottesley),
Edward, John, Richard, Thomas, Robert,
Jane (Middleton), Oliver, Margaret
(Musgrave), George, Alice (Radlciffe),
and John. His son Thomas Dudley was born
in Yeyton, Cheshire in 1465. He married
Margaret Threlkeld and had six children
with her: Richard, Elizabeth, Thomas,
Winifred (Blencowe), John, and Lucy. His
son Richard Sutton Dudley was born in
1500 in Westmorland. He married Dorothy
Sanford and had the following issue:
Edmund H.S., Eleanor, Elizabeth, Grace,
Jane, Robert, John, Anne, and Edmund.
His son John was born in 1515 in
Newcastle On Tyne. John married Bridget
Carre and had a son with her name
Robert, who was born in 1540 in the same
town. Robert married Anne Wood and had
issue with her: Ambrose, Henry, Robert
Jr., Edward , Dorothy, and Elizabeth
(Hopkins). His son Robert was born in
1575 and married Bridget Greene. They
had a son named Edward. Edward was born
in 1600 in Northamptonshire and went to
the New World. Prior to his 1654 death
in Virginia, he left behind three
children with his wife Elizabeth
Pritchard: Richard, Robert, and William.
His son Richard was born in 1623 in
Bristol. He married Mary Sewall and had
three sons with her: Robert Sr., Ambrose
Sr., and Richard. Major Robert Dudley
Sr. was born in 1647 in Virginia. He
married Elizabeth Ransome Elliott and
had four issue with her: Robert, George,
Elizabeth, and Averilla. His son Robert
was born in 1691 and married Elizabeth
Curtis in 1713 with whom he had
Christopher and Robert. His son Captain
Christopher Dudley was born in 1715 in
Christchurch, VA. He married Elizabeth
Daniel and had the following issue with
her: Anne, Sarah, Linton, Christopher,
Agatha, Guilford, Ransom, and Elizabeth.
His daughter Anne was born in 1735 and
married Henry Meacham Jr. and had a son
named Mark with him, born in 1760 in
North Carolina who married Winnefred
Collier in 1779.
Early American and New World Settlers:
The book Genealogical Guide to the
Early Settlers, mentions five people
bearing this surname: 1) Francis Dudley
of Concord who married Sarah Wheeler in
1655 and had issue Mary, Joseph, Samuel,
Sara, John, and Francis, 2) Hugh Dudley
of Springfield who was employed by
William Pynchon who married Mary Copley
in 1656, 3) John Dudley (also spelled
Deadley) of Charlestown, 1658, who
likely married Hannah, daughter of John
Poulter and later Martha French, and had
children: John (1675), Mary (1678),
Nathaniel (1680), Ebenezer (1682), Mercy
(1684), Jonathan (1686), Elizabeth
(1688), and Naomi (1690), 4) Thomas
Dudley, of Roxbury, who was the third
Governor of Massachusetts Bay, and was
son of Captain Roger, and was born in
1576 in Northhampton England. He served
under King Henry IV of France. He came
to the New World in 1630 aboard the Arabella and
had a mill at Watertown, MA. He had a
wife named Dorothy who died in 1643 and
he married Catharine, widow of Samuel
Hackburne, the next year. He had the
following children: Thomas, Samuel, Ann,
Patience, Sara, Mercy, Deborah, Joseph,
and Paul, and 5) William Dudley of
Guildford who married in 1636 at Oakley
in Surrey, England and came to American
in 1639. He had issue William (1639),
Joseph (1643), Ruth (1645), and Deborah
(1647).
Edgar Swartwouth Dudley was a Colonel in
the United States Army. He bore a coat
of arms or "family crest" blazoned as
follows: Or, a lion rampant vert double
queued, with a crest that is a lion's
head erased. He was the son of the Honorable James M. Dudley (1813-1892)
and Maria Swartwout. He was born at
Oppenheim, New York in 1845 and
graduated from West Point in 1870 and
also attended Albany Law school and the
University of Nebraska. He married Mary
S., daughter of Joseph and Mary A.
Hillabrandy, in 1870.
Andrew Dudley was recorded as living in
Virginia (Att West and Sherlow hundred?)
in 1623. He came aboard the Truelove in
1622. John Dudley was buried at St.
James in Barbados in 1679. Other early
settlers include Anne Dudley (Salem,
Massachusetts in 1630), Thomas Dudley
(Massachusetts 1630), Greenhill and
Thomas Dudley (Virginia 1714), Ann
Dudley (Philadelphia 1729), and Abigail
Dudley (Boston, MA 1766), and John
Dudley (Nova Scotia 1750).
Motto:
The Dudley family motto is Droit et
loyal, meaning "Just and loyal",
Robert Dudley KG, 1st Earl of Leicester.
Notables:
Famous people with this last name
include: 1) Ambrose Dudley (1530-1590)
who was an English general and noble who
was the 3rd Early
of Warwick, 2) Robert Dudley (1532-1588)
who was an English noble that became the
1st Earl
of Leicester and was a close and
favorite friend of Queen Elizabeth I, 3)
Sir Andrew Dudley (1507-1559) who was an
English soldier and diplomat, 4)
Benjamin Winslow Dudley (1785-1870) who
was an American academic and surgeon in
Kentucky, 5) Edmund Dudley (1562-1510)
who was a financial agent of King Henry
VII and Speaker of the House of Commons,
and 6) John Dudley (1504-1553) who was
an English general, admiral, and
politician who became the 1st Duke
of Nothumberland.
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