The Dudley Family

No name in English history is more illustrious than that of Dudley. In about 1385, Sir John DeSutton married Margaretta De Somerie, sister and co-heir of John De Somerie, the first Baron of Dudley. John Dudley had taken the name "Dudley" from the Castle of Dudley, which was built in Staffordshire in A.D. 700, by Dudo, a Saxon. The children of Sir John and Margaretta also assumed the name "Dudley;" thence followed a long line of distinguished Knights, one of whom was John Dudley.
JOHN DUDLEY, born in 1502, was Earl of Warwick and Duke of Northumberland. In 1527, he married Jane Guilford, daughter of Sir Edward Guilford. Henry VIII named John as one of the guardians of Edward VI, his minor son. After Edward VI succeeded to the crown, John persuaded the young King to declare Lady Jane Grey, a niece of Henry VIII, his suc­cessor instead of Princess Mary, his sister. John had previously arranged a marriage between his son, Lord Guilford Dudley and Lady Jane Grey as a part of the plot to change the succession of the crown from the Tudors to the Dudleys. After the death of Edward VI, this innocent young girl reigned as Queen for nine days, and was then deposed by Princess Mary, daughter of Henry VIII. This coup d’etat resulted in the beheading of the Duke of Northumberland, his son, Lord Guilford Dudley, and Lady Jane Grey.
ROBERT DUDLEY, the next distinguished member of this illustrious family, a son of the Duke of Northumberland, was Earl of Leicester. Robert became famous as the favorite of Queen Elizabeth and as the hero in Scott’s novel, "Kenilworth." Robert married Lady Douglass Sheffield. One of their children was Sir Robert Dudley. It is thought that Sir Robert was the father of William Dudley.
WILLIAM DUDLEY, born at Richmond, formerly Sheen, in Surrey, England. Several generations of the famous Dudleys lived at that place. On August 24, 1636, William married Jane Lutman, of Wysborough Green. This young couple, together with the Rev. Henry Whitfield (the minister who married them) joined the Eaton & Hopkins’ Expedition, that was sailing for America. They arrived in this country in 1639, establishing the town of Guilford, Connecticut. William became a prominent citizen of the new colony. He died on March 16, 1684, his wife on May 1, 1674. Among their five children was Ruth Dudley.
RUTH DUDLEY, born at Guilford, Connecticut, April 20, 1645. On June 20, 1664, at Saybrook, Connecticut, she married John Whittlesey, III, son of John Whittlesey, Jr. and Lydia Terry.

The Dudley Family thus merges into the Whittlesey Family.