Andrew Dudley Sir Andrew Dudley , KG ( c . 1507 – 1559 ) was an English soldier , courtier , and diplomat . A younger brother of John Dudley , 1st Duke of Northumberland , he served in Henry VIII ' s navy and obtained court offices under Edward VI . In 1547 – 1548 he acted as admiral of the fleet and participated in the War of the Rough Wooing in Scotland , where he commanded the English garrison of Broughty Castle . He was appointed captain of the fortress of Guînes in the Pale of Calais in late 1551 . There he got involved in a dispute with the Lord Deputy of Calais , which ended only when both men were replaced in October 1552 . In October 1549 Andrew Dudley became one of Edward VI ' s Chief Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber and later keeper of the Palace of Westminster , in which function he was responsible for the Royal Wardrobe and Privy Purse . In early 1553 he was sent on a diplomatic mission to the Emperor Charles V to suggest peace talks between France and the Empire . Andrew Dudley was bethrothed to Margaret Clifford , a first cousin of Lady Jane Grey , in June 1553 ; yet his marriage plans came to naught with the accession of Mary I , and on 19 August 1553 he was condemned to death for his part in his brother ' s attempt to establish Lady Jane on the English throne . Released in January 1555 , he lived in London until his death in 1559 . Family and early career . Andrew Dudley was one of three sons of Edmund Dudley , a councillor of King Henry VII , and his second wife Elizabeth Grey , daughter of Edward Grey , 4th Viscount Lisle . When he was a toddler , his father was executed by the young Henry VIII as a scapegoat for the former king ' s financial policies . His eldest brother was John Dudley , later Duke of Northumberland , who sought to advance him in the king ' s service . Andrew Dudley served in the household of Thomas Howard , 3rd Duke of Norfolk , and as an officer of the exchequer in the 1540s . Answering a complaint against exchequer activities in October 1540 , Norfolk told the Privy Council that the only two people he had ever found jobs for were Andrew Dudley and Edward Belingeham . The brother of the Lord High Admiral , Dudley served in the royal navy and commanded the new royal ship " Swallow " in 1545 . In March 1546 , he went on his first diplomatic mission to the Regent of Flanders . In his role as Equerry of the Stable , he delivered Henry VIII ' s gift of hackney horses , greyhounds and running dogs . In Scotland , 1547 – 1548 . In early 1547 Protector Somerset , the English regent , was contemplating to take up the War of the Rough Wooing once more to press home the agreed marriage of Edward VI and Mary Queen of Scots . On 27 February Andrew Dudley was appointed admiral of the fleet . He was to oversee the " annoyance of the Scots " in the North Sea and to interrupt the shipping of munition from France to Scotland . On 7 March he captured one of the Scottish principal ships , the " Great Lion " off Dover , giving her a broadside from the " Pauncey " ( correctly the " Pensée " , sometimes called the " Pansy " ) . Odet de Selve , the French ambassador in London , gained a detailed account from Nicolas d ' Arfeville , a French painter and cartographer . Dudley was 30 miles from Yarmouth when he saw the " Great Lion " , with the " Lyonesse " , the " Mary Gallante " and another unnamed Scottish ship . The " Great Lion " was overwhelmed by superior firepower , and the others surrendered , excepting the unnamed ship . The " Lion " was lost while being towed to Yarmouth when she grounded on a sandbank . Those on board were brought as prisoners to the Tower of London , and at least one notable passenger was killed in the firefight . The Privy Council sent Dudley a letter of commendation on 10 March 1547 for " his hardy enterprise against the Scots " with more detailed instructions . Dudley was told to lay up the " Pauncey " and other ships for repair ; he was to release his Scottish prisoners , except notables , " gentlemen of estimation " , and 40 sailors judged to be the best seamen and pilots . Those released would pay their ransom at £4 for a master or officer , and 40 shillings a sailor or mariner . Dudley then sailed North to treat with the Fife lairds who had killed Cardinal Beaton . They were holding St Andrews Castle against the Regent Arran with his eldest son James Hamilton as hostage . The lairds , who became known as the " Castilians " , signed a contract with Dudley , according to which they were to receive English aid to hold the castle against the Scottish government : for the better . . . surity of themselves and His Majesty ' s friends in Scotland and the advancement and perfection of the said marriage [ as well as ] a perpetual peace , unity and . . . natural love between both the realms . The Castilians promised to surrender St . Andrews Castle and Arran ' s son to the English when they should appear . Dudley also struck a bargain with Lord Gray , a disaffected Scottish noble who owned Broughty Castle , a fortress near Dundee . The chronicler and eye - witness William Patten noted its strategic importance : " it standeth in such sort at the mouth of the river Tay , that being gotten , both Dundee and [ Perth ] , and many other towns else shall become subject to this hold or be compelled to forego their use of the river . " Lord Gray ' s contribution would be the surrender of his castle and help in taking Perth . St . Andrews Castle fell in July 1547 , which greatly strengthened French influence in Scotland and triggered an English invasion . Andrew Dudley assisted the campaign at sea , under the command of Lord Clinton . Shortly after the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh Dudley was knighted by Edward Seymour , Duke of Somerset . On 20 September 1547 he was appointed captain of the English garrison at Broughty Castle . Lord Gray had surrendered it after three token cannon shots from the English ships . Dudley complained to Somerset in October 1547 that " never had a man had so weak a company of soldiers given to drinking , eating and slothfulness , " though , " the house stands well . " However , it had " scant window to shut , nor door , nor bolt , . . . nor nail " . Re - fortification was supervised by a resident Italian engineer , Master John Rossetti , and included building a new platform for cannon on the roof and strengthening of the curtain wall . Andrew Dudley secured a bond of alliance from the town of Dundee by firing on the town from his two ships , the " Bark Ager " and the " Mary Hambroughe " , at the end of October 1547 . In an effort to promote the Protestant Reformation , he hoped to distribute Tyndale and Frithe ' s Bible in Dundee . Lord Gray and the Master of Ruthven continued to bargain for the surrender of Perth in December 1547 , but the English never secured the town . Dudley was assisted by a subordinate , Thomas Wyndham who sailed several times up the Tay towards Perth looking for supplies . On 22 January 1548 , he sent Wyndham across the Forth to Fife to burn houses . Dudley ' s plan was to draw his besiegers to attack him and he kept behind his main force . The Scots and French took the opportunity offered to attack Broughty and were repulsed back to Dundee after a " hot skirmish " . The trick did not work a second time on 25 January , and Wyndham ' s landing party in Fife encountered an ambush of 600 men ; 10 soldiers were killed and 20 sailors injured . Dudley built a second fort to command Dundee in March 1548 with the engineer Master John Rossetti and Sir Thomas Palmer . He was relieved at Broughty by Thomas Wyndham ' s nephew , Sir John Luttrell . On 3 April 1548 , Dudley and Luttrell were instructed by the Privy Council to try to agree a yearly pension for Lord Gray at a figure between 600 and 1000 crowns . Military and court appointments . Dudley ' s next military appointment after his service in Scotland was under Lord Russell against the Western Rebellion in August 1549 . In early 1551 Dudley became captain of the English garrison at Guînes . However , he incurred large debts " by his service " , and became involved in a dispute with Lord Willoughby , the Lord Deputy of Calais . In January 1552 they were recalled to England and summoned before the Privy Council . Finally , to resolve the feud , both men were relieved of their posts in October . During 1552 Dudley also surveyed the coastal defenses of Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight to advise on their improvement . Under Edward VI , Dudley also obtained court appointments and responsibilities ; a member of the Privy Chamber , on 24 March 1547 he was given custody of a purse of £1435 - 9s - 6d . Dudley ' s brother John ousted the Protector in October 1549 , and Andrew became one of the newly created Chief Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber . These four " principal gentlemen " had " the singular care " of the King ' s person and were each rewarded with £100 p . a . A year later Dudley also became keeper of the Palace of Westminster , where he made an inventory of wardrobe and household goods . Effectively in charge of the Privy Purse , he was responsible for receiving and paying out royal cash and looking after " all the jewels . . . and other things in the palace " . Mission to the Emperor , 1553 . In 1552 Dudley was made a Knight of the Garter ; at the end of the year he was sent on a diplomatic mission to discuss Edward VI ' s hopes to mediate for peace between the Empire and France . He first travelled to Brussels , where he was received by Mary of Hungary on 8 January 1553 . Impatient to see the Emperor himself , he tried to intercept him on his way to Flanders . Sir Richard Morrison , the English resident ambassador with Charles V , knew nothing of this until he met Dudley at Treves . The ailing ruler was averse to be molested by diplomats while journeying , nevertheless Morrison arranged an interview at Luxembourg in which Charles referred them to a later occasion . On 11 February 1553 the Emperor gave the Englishmen an audience at Brussels . When Dudley offered to kiss his hand , he embraced him . The visitors noted that the chamber was hung with tapestries depicting the Emperor ' s victories at Tunis . Charles V was non - committal , declaring that he was well - disposed to peace if he only could trust the French king . On returning to England Dudley had an audience with Edward on 19 February . Jehan Scheyfve , the Emperor ' s agent , reported that Dudley was discreet , and only mentioned that Charles had given him a present . The French ambassador in London was not pleased . Dudley was elected MP for Oxfordshire in the March parliament of 1553 , carrying Edward ' s train at the proceedings . Marriage plans and disgrace . In April 1553 Dudley was commanded by the King to release cloth of silver and gold and velvet for the marriage of his nephew Lord Guildford to Lady Jane Grey , which was celebrated on 25 May . In June , Jehan de Scheyfve reported that Dudley himself would marry Margaret Clifford , a granddaughter of Mary Tudor , Queen of France , and cousin of Lady Jane , and that he would be made Lieutenant - Governor of the North . Dudley had even reserved a number of items from the wardrobe at Westminster for the marriage , including jewels , silver and gilt cups , a hair - brush , velvet dog - collars , and a pair of pictures of Diana and Actaeon . However , Edward VI died on 6 July 1553 , having named Lady Jane Grey as his heir . Andrew Dudley assembled a force of 500 men at Ware , Hertfordshire to assist in his brother ' s campaign against Mary Tudor . Presumably arrested with him in East Anglia , he was imprisoned in the Tower on 25 July . Accused with his family of rebellion and high treason , Dudley stood trial at Westminster Hall on 19 August 1553 . He pleaded guilty and only asked that his jewels that were in the keeping of a wardrobe colleague should not be lost . On 21 August 1553 , the day before John Dudley ' s execution , he appeared with him and other condemned persons at the Tower Chapel St . Peter ad Vincula to hear mass . His life was spared , and he was released in January 1555 . In April 1555 , after his formal pardon , Philip and Mary granted Dudley a pension of £100 p . a . He was allowed to retain some of his earlier possessions , which had been valued at £555 at the time of his arrest in 1553 . He moved to Tothill Street , London and , " sick of body " , made his will in July 1556 . In it he tried to reclaim jewels and other stuffs the Earl of Cumberland had received in advance of Dudley ' s intended marriage with Margaret Clifford . Among the intended beneficiaries were his nephews Ambrose , Robert Dudley , and Henry Sidney , his nephew - by - marriage . He died three years later , sometime before his will was proved on 22 November 1559 .