Author: Dudley, John
Biography:
DUDLEY, John (1762-1856: ODNB)
He was born on 5 Nov. 1762 and baptised on 7 Dec., the eldest son of Rev. John Dudley, vicar of Humberstone, Leicestershire, and Bridget Jackman, who had married earlier in the year at Oundle, Northamptonshire. He was educated at Uppingham school and Clare College Cambridge (matric. 1781, BA 1785 [Second Wrangler and Mathematical Prizeman], MA 1788, Fellow 1787, Tutor 1788), and entered the church. He succeeded his father to the living of Humberstone in 1794 and added the living of Sileby, Leicestershire, in 1795. He was also chaplain to the Marquis of Exeter. He served for forty years as a magistrate and was the proprietor of the Loughborough Telegraph. He died on 7 Jan. 1856 and was buried in his church on 14 Jan. He married, first, Ann Kirby (1750-1823) on 16 Dec. 1794 at St. Mary’s, Nottingham. There was no issue. He then married Eleanor Sleath (1770-1847) in 1823 at All Saints, Loughborough--again with no issue; she also predeceased him. The Charles Dudley who matriculated at Clare in 1818 was his nephew, to whom he left £4000, land, and various effects in his will. A wealthy man, he left an array of bequests to other family members and friends and during his life spent considerable sums on various churches and local projects. In addition to the work listed here he published a sermon at Cambridge on the translation of the scriptures into Indian languages in 1807. Other learned works were A Dissertation Showing the Identity of the Rivers Niger and Nile (1821), Naology, or A Treatise on the Origin, Progress and Symbolical Import of the Sacred Structures (1846), and The Anti-Materialist (1849), a philosophical work vindicating Bishop Berkeley. He also contributed to the Gentleman’s Magazine. (ODNB 31 May 2023; ancestry.co.uk 31 May 2023; findmypast.co.uk 31 May 2023; CCEd 31 May 2023; GM Feb. 1856, 197-8; Cambridge Intelligencer 27 Dec. 1794; Derby Mercury 26 Feb. 1823; Leicester Chronicle 5 Apr. 1823, 13 Nov. 1847, 12 Jan. 1856; Illustrated London News 19 Jan. 1856 [with portrait]) AA