LUDLOWE, William (c.1619-?95), of Clarendon Park, Wilts.

Ludlowe, who like most of his kin signed his name thus, belonged to the senior branch of a prosperous gentry family long-established in Wiltshire and surrounding counties.22TSP iv. 295. Several of his paternal ancestors had sat in Parliament; William Ludlow† (d. 1478) of Hill Deverill had served as butler to three successive Lancastrian kings.23Wilts. Arch. Mag. xxvi. bef. p. 153. However, the generous provision by Ludlowe’s grandfather, Sir Edmund Ludlow† (d.1624) for the sons of his second marriage, especially Sir Henry Ludlowe*, alienated his eldest son from his first marriage, the MP’s father, (also) Henry Ludlow†. Existing family quarrels were exacerbated and financial security was undermined, while the public careers of the half-brothers were characterised by irascibility, litigiousness and, in the elder Henry at least, violence.24‘Henry Ludlow I’, ‘Henry Ludlow II’, HP Commons 1604-1629. By May 1638 the latter’s second son, another Henry Ludlowe, who was then or later in the service of Robert Devereux, 3rd earl of Essex, had assumed liability for some of his father’s debts and was standing surety for his appearance before the privy council.25CSP Dom. 1637-8, p. 443. But the slippery and mendacious debtor was apparently still evading his responsibilities and the authorities at the time of his death (intestate) in October 1639.26CSP Dom. 1639, pp. 345, 366, 410.

The subsequent inquisition recorded that a substantial estate consisting of four manors in Wiltshire, four in Hampshire and two in Somerset, in addition to other property, descended to his eldest son and heir, Edmund.27Abstracts Wilts. IPMs Chas. I, 306-7. Nearly four-fifths of the lands – £17,772 out of £20,000 according to a subsequent valuation – were forfeited by unredeemable mortgage, however. Edmund, who had followed tradition by falling out with his father, clung to all that was left, ignoring his siblings’ claims. Despite privy council and chancery orders in their favour, Henry the younger was still shouldering his father’s outstanding debts when he died in spring 1642 and two younger brothers and their sisters were apparently deprived of their portions.28CSP Dom. 1639-40, pp. 335-6, 370, 532; 1648-9, p. 406; E142/595/85; PROB11/189/251 (Henry Ludlow of St Martin-in-the-Fields).

The outbreak of civil war that summer offered an opportunity for employment to an impoverished younger son like William Ludlowe, although it is possible that, like Henry and their cousin Edmund Ludlowe II* of Maiden Bradley, eldest son of Sir Henry, William was in service to Essex before hostilities began.29Davis and Firth, Reg. Hist. 42-3. With the exception of Edmund of Hill Deverill, the war also provided the occasion to exhibit family solidarity. Among many members who fought for Parliament, several subsequently died for it. William enlisted as a cornet under Edmund of Maiden Bradley in the regiment of Wiltshire grandee Sir Edward Hungerford*. Having at an early stage in the conflict survived an operation to remove a bullet which had travelled through his stomach to lodge near his spine, he was promoted to captain and eventually to major.30Ludlow, Mems. i. 69. Chosen by the committee of the west at Westminster in 1644 as governor of the garrison at Falstone House, near Wilton, he worked in close proximity to members of the county committee meeting there, including his uncle Edmund Ludlowe I* of Kingston Deverill. According to his cousin’s Memoirs, ‘with his troop [he] somewhat restrained the excursions of the king’s party from their garrison thereabouts’.31Ludlow, Mems. i. 117; Waylen, ‘Falstone Day Bk.’ 347, 348, 350, 353. Transferred to take charge of Langford House near Salisbury following its surrender to forces under Oliver Cromwell* in October 1645, he remained there until it was slighted in accordance with a parliamentary ordinance of 4 May 1646.32Ludlow, Mems. i. 124; CSP Dom. 1645-7, p. 333; CJ iv. 534a. Thereafter, under the direction of the committee of the west, ‘Captain Ludlow’ (sometimes distinguishable from his cousin only by his rank at a given moment) was commander of what was intended to be the sole troop of horse remaining in Wiltshire, until it was disbanded in May 1647; James Hely* was his cornet.33CJ iv. 534a; Add. B22084, ff. 21, 26.

By this time Ludlowe’s eldest brother Edmund was dead. Notwithstanding a chancery decree to the contrary, Edmund appears to have succeeded in handing on all the family estates to his only daughter Elizabeth (bap. 1630); Hill Deverill descended to his eventual son-in-law, Sir Henry Coker of Mapowder, Somerset.34PROB11/195/272 (Edmund Ludlowe); C142/595/85; WARD7/7/2; Wilts. Arch. Mag. xxvi. bef. p. 153. William Ludlowe thus derived no visible benefit as surviving male heir. Some time before Michaelmas 1646, when he and his wife had been occupying for several months a pew in St Thomas’s church, Salisbury, he had married.35Churchwardens’ Accounts Sarum ed. Swayne, 325. His wife was probably Ann, the spouse with whom he fathered a daughter, Elizabeth, baptized at St Thomas in 1654; other children, including Ann (bap. 1649) occur in the register of St Martin, Salisbury. Since their son William the younger, apparently born about 1650, referred to his cousin Gabriel Thistlethwayte, son of leading committee-man Alexander Thistlethwayte* of Winterslow, and since Mistress Ann Ludlow, wife of William, was buried in that parish in 1660, it is highly likely that Ann was this Alexander’s younger sister.36St Thomas Salisbury, St Martin, Salisbury and Winterslow par. regs.; Add. B22084, f. 26; PROB11/350/195. Thistlethwaytes were well represented among William the elder’s brother officers.37Waylen, ‘Falstone Day Bk.’, passim. It could have been a financially advantageous match, but the couple may well have relied on the fruits of office or opportunities arising from William’s military service. Perhaps in 1647, and probably through the patronage of Philip Herbert*, 4th earl of Pembroke, who was Parliament’s lord lieutenant, he became a ranger in Clarendon Park, the former royal estate to the west of Salisbury.38CJ vi. 512b. He subsequently acquired, with others including Salisbury brewer and MP John Dove*, a share in the estate itself.39Domesday of Crown Lands, 393; CSP Dom. 1660-1, p. 286.

Added to the Wiltshire committee in June 1648 with James Herbert*, William Eyre II* and Nicholas Greene*, Ludlowe soon became one of a new cohort of active local magistrates usually keenly supportive of successive regimes at Westminster.40CJ v. 580b; C193/13/3, f. 69v; Wilts. RO A1/60/2, pp. 1, 9, 37, 47, 59, 135, 165. He served as a subsidy commissioner and a militia commissioner before being appointed to deal with sequestrations (Feb. 1650) and gaining a commission as major in the Wiltshire militia (Apr. 1650), which he appears to have retained for the rest of the decade.41A. and O.; CCC, 179, 654; CSP Dom. 1650, p. 506. Doubtless his record accounts for his receiving a positive response when, on the eve of departure for military service in Ireland, he petitioned the Rump (23 Oct., 20 Dec.) for compensation from the trustees for the sale of crown lands for loss of profits from his office in Clarendon Park.42CJ vi. 486b, 512b. Payment of £100 was made on 11 January 1651.43CSP Dom. 1651, pp. 4, 537. It is not clear exactly how long he was away from Wiltshire, but he was again named to the commission of the peace in 1652/3 and regularly visible at sessions from at least June 1654.44C193/13/4, f. 110; Wilts. RO A1/60/2, p. 1. He was appointed to the all-important commissions for creditors and poor prisoners (Oct. 1653) and for scandalous ministers (Aug. 1654), indicating a commitment to social and religious reform.45A. and O. He was consistently among local civil and military commissioners who assisted Major-general John Disbrowe* in the implementation of direct rule in 1655-6.46Wilts RO, 332/265/31-32; SP25/77, p. 868; TSP iv. 295; CSP Dom. 1655-6, pp. 102, 213.

In this context, Ludlowe’s election to Parliament in 1656 as one of ten Members for the county looks like a nomination from Disbrowe or from central government. His presence was doubtless intended to leaven with loyalty a set of representatives which included several of greater social standing and wealth but of dubious reliability. Ludlowe received only one committee nomination at Westminster, but it demonstrated his commitment to social reform, being the preparation of the bill to relieve creditors and poor prisoners for debt (29 Oct.).47CJ vii. 447a. He made no other recorded contribution to proceedings.

In tandem with his continuing work as a magistrate, Ludlowe still aspired to the office of ranger in Clarendon Park. In 1658 he was engaged in litigation over his claims with John Duncombe (?later Sir John Duncombe†).48C10/57/180. He stood again for Parliament that December, being returned with fellow activist Richard Hill* for Old Sarum, a borough traditionally dominated by the Cecil family, but also open to Herbert influence.49C219/48. He had no committee nominations, and while his cousin, now Lieutenant-general Ludlowe, made many speeches, William failed to attract the attention of diarist Thomas Burton*.

Nonetheless, as the government of Protector Richard Cromwell* faced insurrection that summer, Ludlowe was evidently regarded as a key figure in the maintenance of control in Wiltshire. The county’s copy of a circular from the council of state enjoining obedience to its injunctions or those of the Rump and Lieutenant-general Charles Fleetwood* was directed to Major Ludlowe and he was paid promptly for his troop of 76 soldiers.50CSP Dom. 1659-60, pp. 16, 579. He was confirmed by the Rump as a militia commissioner on 1 September.51CJ vii. 772b. However, following a meeting at Salisbury on 1 November with fellow sequestrators John Rede and Unton Croke II*, all expressed a conviction of the inadequacy of the instructions they had received and of the assistants nominated to assist, and sought renewed authority.52CCC 762.

During the election campaign for the Convention Ludlowe provided in his house at Clarendon brief sanctuary for his cousin Edmund, who was fearful of arrest by the council of state, and a rather longer refuge for Edmund’s wife. It appears to have been a rendezvous for discussion and sharing of intelligence.53Ludlow, Voyce, 104, 113. Notwithstanding this and Edmund’s notoriety, William seems to have weathered the Restoration relatively quietly. Despite support from Philip Herbert*, 5th earl of Pembroke, he probably lost the share of land he had bought in Clarendon Park, but he kept his house and a modest prosperity.54CSP Dom. 1660-1, p. 286; CTB i. 194; C9/27/98. He held no public office, but was overseer in 1666 to his uncle Edmund Ludlowe I, by this time domiciled in the Strand, who left him £100 for his sons’ apprenticeships.55PROB 11/322, f. 221.

As a widower described as about 45, in December 1667 Ludlowe was licensed to marry the slightly older but potentially quite wealthy Margaret Ludlow, widow of St Martin-in-the-Fields, whose late husband almost certainly hailed from the Maiden Bradley branch of the family.56London Mar. Lics. ed. Foster, 868; Holy Trinity, Knightsbridge par. reg.; PROB11/319/205; PROB11/322/535. Named in the licence was William Ludlowe junior, who had entered the Middle Temple earlier that year, and was duly later called to the bar, but who died soon afterwards.57MT Admiss. 175. Ludlowe junior’s will, drawn up on 18 April 1675, named as his overseers his ‘dear father’, still living at Clarendon and his cousin (Dr) Gabriel Thistlethwayte, now a prebendary of Salisbury and a chaplain to Charles II, and left money for the poor of St Martin, Salisbury.58PROB11/350/195; ‘Gabriel Thistlethwayte’, Al. Cant; Clergy of the C of E database, ID72372. The death date of the former MP is uncertain, but it seems clear that he should be distinguished from the later seventeenth-century William Ludlows associated with St Thomas, Salisbury and mercantile life in London, and highly likely that he was the ‘Mr William Ludlow of New Sarum’ buried at Winterslow on 15 January 1695, three days before the interment of Peregrine Thistlethwayte in the same place.59St Thomas, Salisbury and Winterslow par. regs.; PROB11/413/408 (William Ludlow of London). The MP’s second son Edmund was living at Clarendon Park in 1706, but no family member sat again in Parliament.60‘William Ludlow’, Al. Ox.