Monday, February 21, 2000

John Sutton Baron II Dudely 1329-1370

John Sutton (2nd Baron Dudley)
b. 1329  Malpas, Cheshire, England
d. c.1369, in France
m. 25 Dec 1357 to Catherine Stafford
Parents:
   John Sutton (1st Baron Dudley) 1304 – 1359
   Isabel Cherleton 1308 – 1397
Spouse:
   Catherine Stafford 1340 – 1361
Children:
   John Sutton (Baron III Dudley) 1361 – 1396

Sir John II family
John De SUTTON
Born: 1329, Malpas, Chester, England
Died: 1369/70, France
Father: John De SUTTON
Mother: Isabel De CHERLETON
Married 1: Catherine STAFFORD 25 Dec 1357
Children:
1. John SUTTON
Married 2: Joan CLINTON ABT 1362
Children:
2. Margaret SUTTON (b. 1362)
3. Elizabeth SUTTON (b. 1362)
4. Thomas SUTTON (b. 1363 - d. AFT 1402)
5. Richard SUTTON (b. 1365 - d. AFT 1420)
6. Dionysia SUTTON
from ancestry.com

The Title of Baron Dudley
Baron Dudley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Baron Dudley is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in circa 1440 for John Sutton, a soldier who served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. According to Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage he was actually summoned to Parliament as "Johanni de Sutton de Duddeley militi", whereby he is held to have become Baron Dudley. The title is sometime referred to as Baron Sutton of Dudley. The peerage was created by writ, which means that it can descend through both male and female lines.

It is in fact arguable that the title arose even earlier, as his ancestor John Sutton (died 1359) had a writ of summons to the Council on 25 February 1342, but neither he nor his son (died c.1370), grandson (died 10 March 1396) or great grandson (all called John Sutton of Dudley) were summoned,[1] so that they can probably not be regarded as peers.

Lord Dudley's great grandson, the third Baron, managed to get himself severely into debt and lost the family seat of Dudley Castle to his cousin John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland. He became known as "Lord Quondam" ("Lord Has-been" or "Lord Formerly"). However, Dudley Castle and the other family estates were restored to his son, the fourth Baron. He was succeeded by his son, the fifth Baron, who like his grandfather came heavily into debt. To clear his debts he married off his granddaughter and heir, Frances, to Sir Humble Ward, the son of a wealthy jeweller. Frances succeeded him and became the sixth holder of the title. In 1644 her husband Humble Ward was created Baron Ward, of Birmingham in the County of Warwick, by letters patent.

They were both succeeded by their son, the seventh and second Baron respectively. On the death in 1740 of the latter's grandson, the tenth Baron Dudley and fifth Baron Ward, the two titles separated. The barony of Ward, which could only be inherited by males, was passed on to the late Baron's kinsman, the sixth Baron (see the Earl of Dudley for later history of this title). The barony of Dudley was inherited by the Baron's nephew, Ferdinando Lea, 11th Baron Dudley, the eleventh Baron. He was the son of Frances, sister of the tenth Baron, and her husband William Lea. However, on Ferdinando's death in 1757 the peerage fell into abeyance between his sisters. It remained in abeyance for 159 years, but in 1916 the abeyance was terminated in favour of Ferdinando Dudley William Lea Smith, who became the twelfth Baron. He was the great-great-grandson of Anne, sister of the eleventh Baron, and her husband William Smith. As of 2010[update] the title is held by his grandson, the fifteenth Baron, who succeeded his mother in 2002 (who in her turn had succeeded her younger brother).

The holders of the title (until 1740) were the owners of Dudley Castle and an extensive estate around it, including the manors of Dudley, Sedgley, Kingswinford and Rowley Somery in Rowley Regis. By the 16th century, their main home was Himley Hall. On the death of the tenth Baron in 1740, the barony of Dudley passed to a female-line heir (see above), whereas the main estates were entailed to follow the barony of Ward and passed to a cousin. However, certain estates that had recently been purchased passed with the title Lord Dudley to the aforementioned Ferdinando Dudley Lea, the eleventh Baron Dudley.

The family surname of the first five barons was formally 'Sutton', but in practice they seem always to have been called 'Dudley'. In title deeds and other formal documents, the surname often appears as 'Sutton otherwise Dudley'.
from ancestry.com

Dudley Castle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia




Location within West Midlands General information Town or city Dudley, Wes t Midlands Country England Coordinates 52.5142°N 2.0800°W Construction started 1070 Completed 1530 Demolished 1750 (destroyed by fire) Design and construction Client Earl of Dudley Dudley Castle is a ruined castle in the town of Dudley, West Midlands, England. Dudley Zoo is located in its grounds. The location, Castle Hill, is an outcrop of Wenlock Group limestone that was extensively quarried during the Industrial Revolution, and which now along with Wren's Nest Hill is a Scheduled Ancient Monument as the best surviving remains of the limestone industry in Dudley. It is also a Grade I listed building. The Dudley Tunnel runs beneath Castle Hill, but not the castle itself.

History

According to legend, a wooden castle was constructed on the site in the 8th century by a Saxon lord called Dud or Dado. However this legend is not taken seriously by historians, who usually date the castle from soon after the Norman Conquest of 1066.[1] It is thought one of the Conqueror's followers, Ansculf, built the first castle in 1070.[2] and that his son, William Fitz-Ansculf, was in possession of the castle when it was recorded at the time of the Domesday Book of 1086. Some of the earthworks from this castle, notably the 'motte', the vast mound on which the present castle keep now sits, still remain. However the earliest castle would have been of wooden construction and no longer exists[3].

After Fitz-Ansculf, the castle came into the possession of the Paganel family, who built the first stone castle on the site. This castle was strong enough to withstand a siege in 1153 by the forces of King Stephen.[4] However, after Gervase Paganel joined a failed rebellion against King Henry II in 1173 the castle was demolished by order of the king. The Somery's were the next dynasty to own the site and set about building the castle in stone starting in the second half of the 13th century and continuing on into the 14th. The keep (the most obvious part of the castle when viewed from the town) and the main gate dates from this re-building. A chapel and great hall were also constructed[5].

The last of the male line of Somery, John Somery, died in 1321 and the castle and estates passed to his sister Margaret and her husband John de Sutton. Subsequently, members of this family often used Dudley as a surname. In 1532 another John Sutton (the seventh in the Dynasty named John) inherited the castle but after having money problems was ousted by a relative, John Dudley, later Duke of Northumberland, in 1537. Starting around 1540, a range of new buildings were erected within the older castle walls by him. The architect was William Sharington and the buildings are thus usually referred to as Sharrington Range. Dudley was later beheaded, for his attempt to set Lady Jane Grey on the Throne of England[6].

The castle was returned to the Sutton family by Queen Mary. The castle was later visited by Queen Elizabeth I and was considered as a possible place of imprisonment for Mary, Queen of Scots. A century later, the castle became a Royalist stronghold during the English Civil War, and was besieged twice before its surrender to Cromwell's forces in 1646. Parliament subsequently ordered that the castle be partly demolished and the present ruined appearance of the keep result from this decision. However some habitable buildings remained and were subsequently used occasionally by the Earls of Dudley although by this time they preferred to reside at Himley Hall, approximately four miles away, when in the Midlands[7].

A stable block was constructed on the site at some point before 1700. This was the final building to be constructed in the castle[8].

The bulk of the remaining habitable parts of the castle was destroyed by fire in 1750. However, in the nineteenth century, the site found a new use as a 'Romantic Ruin' and a certain amount of tidying up of the site was carried out by the Earls of Dudley. Battlements on one of the remaining towers were reconstructed and two cannon captured during the Crimean Wars were installed. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century the site was used for fetes and pageants. In 1937, when the Dudley Zoo was established, the castle grounds were incorporated into the zoo.

Despite being situated on the edge of Dudley town centre, the castle was situated within the borders of Sedgley - which was part of neighbouring Staffordshire rather than Worcestershire - until the borders were changed to include the castle and its grounds within the Dudley borough in 1926, when restructuring of the boundaries took place to allow the development of the Priory Estate.[1] [2]

The maps of Christopher Saxton drawn in 1579 and John Speed in 1610, mark Dudley Castle in the County of Staffordshire not Worcestershire.[11]

Visitor centre

The castle visitor centre was opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in June 1994, and amongst other exhibits housed a computer generated reconstruction of the castle as it was in 1550, displayed through hardware that demonstrated the first use of the virtual tour concept, prior to its widespread adoption as a Web-based browser utility. More details of how Her Majesty became the first Royal to experience a virtual world here.

See also:
Castles in Great Britain and Ireland
List of castles in England
References:

Chandler, G. and Hannah, I.C., Dudley: As it was and as it is to-day, B.T.Batsford Ltd., London, 1949

"The fates and fortunes of Dudley Castle".
http://www.dudleymall.co.uk/loclhist/olddudley/dudleycastle.htm

"A Brief History of Dudley Town and Castle".
http://www.dudleymall.co.uk/loclhist/olddudley/dudleycastle.htm
from ancestry.com

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