A PATRICIAN'S PEDIGREE.

NZ Truth, Issue 173, 10 October 1908, Page 5

A PATRICIAN'S PEDIGREE.

A DUDLEY THAT WAS EXECUTED.

Shopkeeper William Ward and the Simple Sailors.

WHERE THE DIIDLEV WEALTH COMES FROM.

" lor# Quondam " Dudley, the Human Sponge.

In our last ' issue (says Sydney "Truth") we gave .some t account . of the doings of that enormously wealthy man, Lord Dudley, m that lugubrious part of England that is known as the Black Country— a part that is so miserable, m which there is so much unmerited suffering': among tne> people, that the description thereof would need the genius of a Daate to do it justice. .When he wrote his "'lnfernb,' 7 Dante had flotr seen, the English Black Country. Had he done so ho would perhaps have nqt , been so, sorely saddened by the horrors of Hell ; lor, he Would have, j become inured to them tiiroiiEh his Black Country experiences^ We 'described m our issue of last weeK s dale the treatment of the unfortunate inhabitants of Quarry »Bank by Lord ltudley. We also said something about the deplorable condition of the town of Dudley itself. Moreover; '<$& referred "to the immerse iiiicojnfc of. Lord Dudley, ahd^of r how he got /that . income. We also mentioned' toe fact" that the late Earl of Dudley received, m one year; 1 from ihis coa^anaHron mine's m Staffordshire 1 .alone, no 1 '- less sum tl\an one: millibh pounds sterlings We also gave some account of' the matrimonial 'alliance between the Dudleys and the Wards, and of the spendthrift Sutton de, Dudley.' The pedigree of Lord Dudley, our highly interesting and "enormously wealthy" Governor-General, deserves, however, more consideration ; ana detailed description than our space enabled us to give last week. VThe ■ ' , . ';.!, ' PEDIGREE OS 1 THE WARD FAMILY; for Ward is- the family name ol the Gov-ernor-General. ,Ls sufficiently interesting to "be" give* some more space m the coiu'mns ot "Truth" this* week. : , , . An analysis of the origin of the titiea Ward family is given, with an .entire absence of ''beatinir about the bush,', -m that remarkable little work,' "'Our; Old Nobility," published m England toy Henry Vickers. of the' Strand-, at a 1 time- durin the lifetime of the, father of the present Earl' Dudley.? when the Marquis of Salisbury, was leading the Tory/Party m opposition to' a 'Franchise- BjU. -lta author of, the book. Howard Evans,, dedicated - his work to tire Marquis of baliSbury, who was, saii Howard Evans; working, from • an opposite point, for the same changes as those for which Evans, worked Howard Evans. .shows that. the rents alone of the • late Earl of Dudley amounted to ' £123, in.a. a yeait*-- Tq this, then, must be added the immense profits pi the coal and iron mines. This is l .w.hat; Hpyrard Evans says^ about the history and 'pedigree; of the Wards :—.' ■;. ;v ;;-;;.. The history of the, Wards presents nofeatures of striking- interest, inasmuch., as they are but a line of illustrious obscurities, whose names are conspicuous by their absence in -our national annals, and whose only merit is to have achaeved a succession vof lucky marriages, with the result of accumulating a large amGurit of landed:', prbperty in.the Mitllarid Counties. Nevertheless, as the tarl of 'is immensely, rich, and draws a very large part, of his wealth from the; district around Birmingham, he must not pass unnoticed. According to the landowners' " return, he possesses ;in ;

'As the Earl isi also a .*•,. GREAT COLLIERY PROPRIETOR m Soiith Staffordshire, these figures /by no" means represent bis real income;.' * Everyone knows that iiheEarl of Dudley is the owner of Dudley Castle, , and those who have caught a' hasty glimpse »f that ancient fortress from the railway would naturally suppose • that the Bards are an ancient house ; they are r however, descended from a London tradesman" who flourished m the -reign of Charles f. ■ ,"' ' William Ward was the sixth son of a Norfolk squire, whose family -had been, for generations, seated at Bixley, m that County. He came up to London when a lad, .was bound apprentica to a cit/ goldsmith, and subsequently set up m business for himself m Lom-bard-street. Not long after he had open?-, ed his shop, a Sailor, who had just landed from his ship, came m andiofterett to sell him what proved to. be a lo.t of rough diamonds. Ward bought them at an immense advantage to himself ,. and the same night treated the whole of the sliip's crew to a carouse at a neighboring tavern. The next, day another lot •was brought him, whioh he bought up at an equally low price as, the lirst. This lucky stroke of fortune proved to be but the first step up the laddery and id time Ward became jeweller to Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles 1., and was one of the 'most opulent bankers ap* goldsmiths^,!!! .the city. Among th# .improvident nobles of that time wh» came to him for monetary accqm- 1 modation was the i last of the Buttons,' lords of Dudley. He had squandered his means 'on harlots, ' but be had yet a splendid estate— ariiple security for the £20,000 loan which- he wished Ward to advance him. Ward replied ■ that Lord Dudley, might do better than that. He b.imsell ir had a son, Humble by: name, and his' lordship had a granddaughter, If his lordship would marry, the young, lady to his son, Hiumble ; Watd, , . he, should be well satisfied with that secu- . rity. •'.■'-, '.'.'••■ f .■.-■.-.•■ '-,; THE BARGAIN WAS STRUC3K, a^aithWtheWafds, and the Buttons of Dtidley became united. We must ••" now* go back some centuries, and irace bis' hiatofy of Dudley Castle- and the Surrounding lands. ■"■■•■' '• '> ■'■"■.- Dudley Castle is* supposed to have boon built by a ' Saxon named Dodo. Soon after the Norman Conquest,- we find it m the possession = Ifit^-Ans-culph Shortly afterwards, Paggn^l'obtaired possession of it, possiuly through a- .marriage' with FitzrAnsculpb's daugh--1«r. The sister and heir of. his grandson, Gervase Paganel, married 'John de Sbmerie, who i-ebuilt the castle. Henceforth the Sbmeries. were barons oi Dud^ ley. One of shem married a sister and co-heir of D'Albani, Earl'" of Arundel. ■ In time, the male line of the Someries vas exhausted, and i» sister and co-heir of the last Somereie. baron , of Dudley, married John de Sutton, and brwgftt Wi^h her the town and castle ; of Dudley with the manor, of Sedgeley,.Ohaj)e of Pensnett, Manor of. NeWr.Swynfdrd, etc -'In the reign pf that amiableiWeaklmg,' Henry VI., John De Sutton pb- . tamed grants of divers additional lqrd-. chips, as well as the ' stewardship of several others for life. He" was treasurer to Henry VI., but ultimately Kdward IV purchased/ his support by relieving him of all liability for any^ debts he . owttd the former monarch. A subsequent Lord Dudley? ; who, '■* was -nicknamed "Lord Quondam," from his practice of BPortKing upon his, friends' m hi^ advej!•ity became entangled m debt, and. lost nearly all his property to John Dudlev'' Duke of Northumberland, who took " advuntaee of his folly , and weakness to drive some very hard bargains with him. The said .'John Dudley. J)uke of .Northumberland, m the reign of Edward Vi claimea to be descended from the; Sutton Dudleys; but his fatbet, Johnl)ud ley, the extortioner: of Henry; iVU-i

seems to have been a lad of obscure birth, who was educated by the charity 1 of a Sjussex monastery. At , Northumberland's execution, his property reverted to the Crown, but, the Dudley .- estate* . which he had " acquired we're regranted by Queen Mary to the heir of . the Sutton Dudleys, so that the ancient property of this family, now possessed by the Earl of Dudley,- is derived FROM A CROWN GRANT a little more ' tna» SOO years old. In 1600, an, old writer informs us that Lord Dudley hath Dudley, Sedgely, Swinford, Mere, Clent, Enfield,* Bdshbury, Amilcote, Morfe, Over and Nether Perm, Hagley, Molesley, Overton, Wimhournc,- Oxeley, Tresell, Scisdon, Ilimely, Hondesworth, Sandshall, Copcrton, and several other places. Not . a: few < t them appear m Domesday ', f ßook as held hy Fitz An'sculph. Row-;, ,lpy was the .King's till ' the , reign of Eawardi 11, when Momerie obtained a ...grant of* it. Old . Swinlprd was purch* V.'; ased Ji m the same -reign by Bernard 'rte '■.". Bruys. \) >■ ■ ' •. '''■'/■ ■ ■. '■'. „ ■■ ' ' .. ■ ''' .(";- ,The .Sutton Dudleys deserve, some cre■'<MJ.it for increasmig'tfie "trade -of the district. In 1619, Dud Dudley left the Uni-, : , versitjr to manage his father's 'ironworks m the Chase of Pensnett. Wood becoming scarfce, be began to use pit-' . coal, and- obtained a patent from James . I. for the process. He continued to strugelo against many difficulties. Rival • ; mariufaft rcrs injured him. by their narrow jealousy, ignorant workmen cut . his bellows, a flood swept away his'- : ; works, and, finally, his property was, ,- confiscated by the Commonwealth as a punishment for . the aid lie afforded to the ■ Rovatfst 1 cause. .' , After this lengthy, • but necessary digression, let' us 'retuiii to Humble .Ward and his derieendanisi His eldest son married' the i i'ess ol Sir William Brereton, of Haiidford, Cheshire. ' At ,the death of the fif Hi Baron of this .'line, the ancient Barony of Dudley pass- ' ed-tp Fernandino Lea?> uhose graridfa- ' ther was a .Ward, and, at his death, it v Jelt' into abeyance, The estates arid , the 1 ' WariTbarbny passed to John Ward, who ' was 'descended 'froiri the 'younger son Of Hunible. This younger son had married the grand-daughter, and heiress of Thomas' Parkes, Vho, m ICOO, had purchased Willingsworth and Sedgeley of the then 'Lord Dudley,' and thus, after a long lapse of years, these manors were again united with the Dudley estates. John was created, Viscount Dudley and Ward, the fourtji Viscount was advanced to an Earldom, but', dying unmarried, all the . honors ;ekpired save . the \ 'Ward .'. Baroiiy, \yhich was inherited by his second cousin, a cltre,ym an, whose ."son, .■■ -■'' . .-J.::;' „- ■.:,'/■... ■.■'■ -.■ „.'; '..'■■ THE PRESENT: PEER, ,'" . was created ab Earl m! 18c6. " It. may be worth w-hile to -glance at the" Church Uv,irigs .m the' hands of the Earl ,,'of" Dudley. ' O.I f tuese there are ■'■ thirteen, whose united aniiuai value is nearly . £7000,, besides the, residences. •The patronage of several of these has r.., always gone with .the ancient ' manors: 'vpf the ;. Dudley, estates. Dudley, Kinjrs-; winfprd- St. "Mary's, vPensnett, Kidderminster.. StourDridge, and S.edgel&y are all .viqarages/, so', m all v ,T;prob'abiUty Jtu Lord. Dudley; receives the ; tithes ; from most of these pla,ces, which must amount to- a very large sum. 1 . The vie- .;'•' arage of Dudley is .not' only •' .-..worth; , £1080 and a house, but; carries with it ; the patronage of ..■-toufc''.; l o,ti»er» livings, whose united value, is .£1300, : with a house to each; It cost': t'he Wards nothing to obtain -it. ,1 find>tha.t m the year 134? i the- Bishop ;of Worcester summoned the Prior and "Convent oi Dudley '■ to -show ■'■ title tp^, the appropriation of ' the Church of Duaiey, and tbieiic i'itlf was allowed : ■*- It ' cohtmued m their ■ ; hands till the .dissolution of the . monasteries, when it \ayas granted to John. . Dudley, DuKe ; of . At his executiioh it' was -p iveri 'by the - Crpwn to I Suttotij' Lord Dudley, and has remained m the family 'ever since. The 'rectory /of KirißsSviufpid. (£9OO and a house)' carries with it ; the, patronage 'of Brierly liill (i3OO arid, a house). Sedja^ley vicarage (£603 ; an^ 1 a houses) carries with it.T;lje patronage .of "Upper . Gprnal (£215 arid a -house). The vicv , arage of . KidderministtSr. (£IOOO, an;d a • house) carries .:With .it the patronage of '■■ four other livings, value, in all £120 '', with residences. The Kidderminster living, until a comparatively recent date; was m. .the possession, of Lord Foley. I presume ;, ; that. it has lean » jjurchased of the ; Fpleys by Lord Dudley, who,hid also, piirchfiMii! of them. his ■present se-it at I Cqiirt, m Worcestershire. ./ v ; ' Thus we see how the oyft^icaching of a simple sailor by a ■ shopwalkiug sharper^ m the reign of Charles I: (William Ward, the founder ofthe ,ennobl:di Ward family) led- to the founding of a' fortune that has ; made the Earl, ot, iDudley immei»s»ly rich, rich because of the . existence of the evil called Land ; Monop\oly, There is , nothing : admirable m the s ;-■; hjstpry ,of the AVard family, nor m that of. any of the- Sut,tons' de Dudley. ,The). buttons de Dudr ley do not appear to have been spurred ori ; by-- •_ ■ ';:■;.. v . ;. ; ; i ",-■ ANYTHING' 1 ; AVARICEv .' The Dud Dudley, Who first meddled m coal, and who possibly, thereby laid the foundation of thaticbal monopoly that? has had such disastrbiis results under the present Lord Dudley, at Quarry Bank, appears to. have bjsen an enemy of civil liberty arid a partisan of: the tyrant, Charles I. He seems . to have been punished by the Commonwealth of England, arid deservedly'" ■ so, ••; for" his' attempt to restore the tyrant Charles to the English thronß. The -history of the Ward* and the Suttoris is a Qhrqriicle of folly on the part .oi England, who permitted the . existence of land laws- that are a disgrace to ciyilisation. •' . r ■

. • . • . ' / Acres- Rental. Staffordshire •_ v.. :. 4,730 ...••fg.JJJ.. Merioue'tb- ...' ' :*-'• »i 4;*P v" -• -*iW Roxburgh ......... 1,086 ... 2,^5 Salop v.. ......;..' »«8 2^, " Total ... ... 25,554 i£l£s,il£