CHUDLEIGH, John (1606-1634), of Ashton, Devon.

Chudleigh entered the House of Commons in 1626 as a minor, having been returned at East Looe on a blank indenture. His father, Sir George, had been presented with a burgess-ship there by the borough’s main patron, Sir Reginald Mohun*, to use as he wished, and he opted to provide Chudleigh with ‘a little breeding’ at Westminster. However, Sir George first offered the seat to his patron, secretary of state (Sir) John Coke*, and finalized his son’s nomination only in late February, so that Chudleigh must have missed the Parliament’s opening weeks. Precisely when he did arrive is unclear, as he does not appear in the Commons’ records.5 HMC Cowper, i. 252, 257.

It was probably through Coke’s influence that Chudleigh became a gentleman of the privy chamber extraordinary three years later. His death from smallpox in April 1634 presumably occurred at Whitehall, since he was buried at St. Martin-in-the-Fields. George Garrard, reporting the news to Sir Thomas Wentworth*, described him as ‘a young man of great hopes, and much lamented by all that knew him’. Chudleigh died childless and intestate; the administration of his estate was granted to his father on 10 May 1634.6 Strafforde Letters (1739) ed. W. Knowler, i. 242; PROB 6/15, f. 28.