Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 16.djvu/129

Dudley Annals, Memorials, and Lives of Parker and Whitgift; Biog. Brit. (Kippis) ; Notes and Queries, 6th ser. iii. 283 (an unprinted letter to the Earl of Bedford, 17 Sept. 1665); Dugdale's Warwickshire. The fullest account of Lettico, Leicester's third wife, is in Gent. Mag. (1846) i. 250 et seq. ; it is by Mr. J. G. Nichols.] 

DUDLEY, ROBERT, styled  and  (1573–1649), naval commander and inventor, was son of Robert Dudley [q. v.], earl of Leicester, by Douglas Sheffield, widow of John, second baron Sheffield, and daughter of William, first lord Howard of Effingham. He was born at Sheen House, Surrey, 7 Aug. 1574. Dudley's legitimacy was never legally established. He adduced evidence to show that his parents formally contracted themselves at a house in Cannon Row, Westminster, in 1571; that in the winter of 1573 they were secretly married at Esher, Surrey; that Sir Edward Horsey gave the lady away; that Dr. Julio and seven others witnessed the ceremony; that the secrecy was due to his father's desire to keep the marriage from Queen Elizabeth's knowledge, and that until he was three years old, and his father's affections were transferred to the Countess of Essex, Leicester treated him as his lawful heir. About 1577 Leicester seems to have offered Lady Sheffield 700l. to induce her to disavow the marriage, but this bribe she indignantly declined. In 1578 Leicester married the Countess of Essex, whereupon Lady Sheffield married Sir Edward Stafford of Grafton. These marriages, whose validity was not disputed, are the substantial ground on which Dudley has been adjudged illegitimate; but they are not incompatible with the allegation that his father and mother went through a marriage ceremony at Esher in 1573. His godfathers were Sir Henry Lee and his father's brother, Ambrose Dudley [q. v.], earl of Warwick. Lady Dacres of the South was his godmother, but none of these persons were present at his baptism. The Earl of Warwick always seems to have treated the child with kindness. For a time Dudley lived with his mother, and his father was denied access to him. But when he was five or six Leicester obtained possession of him, and sent him to a school at Offington, near Worthing, Sussex.

In 1588 he was entered at Christ Church, Oxford, as an earl's son, and placed under the care of Thomas Chaloner. Leicester died in 1588, and left to young Robert after the death of Warwick the Kenilworth estate, with the lordships of Denbigh and Chirk. Warwick died 20 Feb. 1589–90, and Robert took possession of the property. At the time he was a handsome youth, learned in mathematics, and an admirable horseman. Before he was nineteen he married a sister of Thomas Cavendish [q. v.], the circumnavigator, whose exploits he wished to emulate. On 18 March 1592–3 the mayor of Portsmouth was directed by the privy council to deliver to Dudley two ships, the property of Cavendish, who had lately died at sea. Immediately afterwards he projected an expedition to the South Seas, but the government laid obstacles in the way of his departure. On 6 Nov. 1594 he started on a voyage to the West Indies with two ships (the Earwig and Bear). He destroyed much Spanish shipping at Trinidad; visited the Orinoco river, naming an island at its mouth Dudleiana, and after exploring Guiana, arrived at St. Ives, Cornwall (, iii. 574 et seq.). In 1596 Dudley was with Essex at Cadiz, and was knighted by his commander. On his return Dudley, now a widower, married Alice or Alicia, daughter of Sir Thomas Leigh of Stoneleigh, Warwickshire. His eldest daughter Alicia was baptised at Kenilworth 25 Sept. 1597. Immediately afterwards he resolved to secure legal proof of his legitimacy, and to claim the titles of his father, Leicester, and uncle, Warwick. A suit was commenced in the Archbishop of Canterbury's court of audience, and Dr. Zachary Babington was commissioned to examine witnesses. Many persons deposed on oath to the Esher marriage. But Lettice, Leicester's widow, was unwilling that the lawfulness of her marriage should be questioned, and Robert Sidney, son of Leicester's and Warwick's sister Mary (wife of Sir Henry Sidney), also resisted the claim. An information was filed in the Star-chamber charging Dudley, Sir Thomas Leigh (his father-in-law), Dr. Babington, and others with a criminal conspiracy. All proceedings were stayed, and documents and depositions impounded. Chafing at this injustice, Dudley applied for and was granted a three years' license to travel abroad (25 June 1605). An extant letter from Dudley to his father's friend, Arthur Atye, dated Stoneleigh, 2 Nov. 1603, shows that Dudley, who was then in England, had not yet abandoned all hope of obtaining a legal decision in favour of his claims. But in July 1605 Dudley abandoned his home for ever.

With him there went, in the disguise of a page, Elizabeth, the beautiful daughter of Sir Robert Southwell of Woodrising, Norfolk, and his own cousin-german. This lady was his mistress. He is said to have married her by papal dispensation at Lyons, and to have repudiated his former marriage with Alice Leigh, by whom he had a large family of