DUDLEY, Edmund, a celebrated lawyer and statesman in the reign of Henry VI1., who with Sir Richard Empson, another lawyer of the same stamp, assisted in filling that rapacious monarch’s coffers by arbitrary prosecutions of the people on old penal statutes. Dudley and Empson were beheaded on the accession of Henry VIII. in order to pacify the clamours of the people for justice.

Dudley, John, Duke of Northumberland, son of the above, a statesman memorable in the English history for his unsuccessful attempt to place the crown on the head of his daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey, who fell a victim to his ambition, was born in 1502, and beheaded in 1553. Ambrose, his eldest son, was a brave general and able statesman under Queen Elizabeth, and received the appellation of “the good Earl of Warwick.” Henry, the duke’s second son, was killed at the siege of St Quintin. Robert, the third son, a man of bad character, was created Earl of Leicester, and became one of Queen Elizabeth’s favourites. His fourth son was the unfortunate Lord Guildford Dudley, whose only crime was his being the husband of Lady Jane Grey, an offence for which he was beheaded in 1554.

Dudley, Sir Robert, as he was called in England, and, as he was styled abroad, Earl of Warwick and Duke of Northumberland, was the son of Robert above mentioned, by the Lady Douglas Sheffield, and born at Sheen in Surrey in 1573, where he was carefully concealed, in order to prevent the queen acquiring a knowledge of the earl’s engagement with his mother. He was entered of Christ Church, Oxford, where he remained some time. In 1588 his father died, and left him, after the decease of his uncle Ambrose, his castle of Kenilworth, the lordships of Denbigh and Chirk, and the bulk of his estate, which before he was of age he in a great measure enjoyed, notwithstanding the enmity borne him by the Countess Dowager of Leicester. He was at this time one of the finest gentlemen in England; and having a particular turn for navigation, he fitted out a small squadron at his own expense, with which he sailed to the river Orinoco, and took and destroyed nine sail of Spanish ships. In 1595 he attended the Earl of Essex and the lord high admiral of England in their expedition against the Spaniards, and, for his gallant behaviour at the taking of Cadiz, he received the honour of knighthood. He now endeavoured to prove the legitimacy of his birth, in order to be entitled to his hereditary honours. But being overpowered by the interest of the Countess Dowager of Leicester, he applied for a license to travel; and being well received at the court of Florence, he resolved to continue there, notwithstanding his receiving a letter of recall; upon which his whole estate was seized by King James I. and vested in the crown. At the court of Cosmo II. great duke of Tuscany, he discovered those great abilities for which he had been admired in England, and was at length made chamberlain to his serene highness’s consort. Whilst in this situation, he contrived several methods of improving shipping; introduced new manufactures; and by other services obtained so high a reputation that, at the desire of the archduchess, the Emperor Ferdinand, in 1620, created him a duke of the holy Roman empire. He afterwards drained a vast tract of morass between Pisa and the sea, and raised Leghorn, which was then a mean and insignificant place, into a large and beautiful town, improving the haven by a mole, which rendered it both safe and commodious; and having engaged his highness to declare it a free port, he by his influence and correspondence drew many English merchants to settle and set up houses there, which proved of very great service to his native country, as well as to the Spaniards. He was also the patron of learned men, and held a high place himself in the republic of letters. His most celebrated work is his Del Arcano del Mare, Firenze, 1630, 1646, folio. This work, which has always been scarce, has now become extremely rare. There is a copy in the British Museum, dated 1661, and called the second edition; but that which we have seen and examined belongs to the Society of Writers to the Signet, Edinburgh, whose valuable and well-selected library contains many works of the greatest merit, and literary gems and rarities. The work, which consists of a collection of tracts, comprehends a great number of projects for the improvement of navigation and commerce, with the charts and plans relative thereto; all of them schemes which, considering the time when they were devised, are quite remarkable for the boldness and originality with which they are conceived, and the extent of scientific acquirements which they exhibit.

Dudley, a large town of the hundred of Halfshire, in the county of Worcester, 130 miles from London. It contains two parishes, with their respective churches. The country around it abounds with coal and iron. The chief employment consists in making nails and other hardware. It is a very ancient town, the castle of which is reported to have been built in the seventh century, by a Saxon prince Dodo or Duddo. There is a large market held every Saturday. The inhabitants in 1801 amounted to [7:8:252]10,107, in 1811 to 13,925, in 1821 to 18,211, and in 1831 to 23,043.