Edmund Ludlow (abt. 1617 - 1692)

Born about 1617 in Maiden Bradley, Wiltshire, England

Ancestors

Died 1692 at about age 75 in Vevey, Switzerland

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Biography

Ludlow was born in Maiden Bradley, Wiltshire, the son of Sir Henry Ludlow of Maiden Bradley and his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Phelips of Montacute, Somerset. He matriculated at Trinity College, Oxford on 10 Sep 1634 aged 17 years[1] and graduated in 1636.[2] He was admitted to the Inner Temple in 1638.[2]

At the start of the English Civil War in 1642, Ludlow engaged as a volunteer in the life guard of Lord Essex. His first battle was at Worcester on 23 September 1642, his next at Edgehill on 23 October 1642. In 1643 he returned to Wiltshire and became captain of a troop of horse for Sir Edward Hungerford's regiment. Hungerford made him governor of Wardour Castle in 1643, but had to surrender to the Royalists after a tenacious three-month defence on 18 March 1644. After a brief imprisonment in Oxford, he was exchanged soon afterwards, and engaged as major of Arthur Hesilrige's regiment of horse. He was present at the second battle of Newbury, October 1644, at the siege of Basing House in November, and took part in an expedition to relieve Taunton in December. In January 1645 Sir Marmaduke Langdale surprised his regiment, with Ludlow only escaping with difficulty. After serving as High Sheriff of Wiltshire for 1645 he was elected in 1646 Member of Parliament (MP) for Wiltshire in place of his father, and became involved with the Independent faction within Parliament – especially with Henry Marten and other radical critics of the monarchy. Ludlow was a Baptist and Calvinist predestinarian, and his political views were inextricably interlinked with providentialist and apocalyptic religious views. Ludlow opposed negotiations with Charles I, and was one of the chief promoters of Pride's Purge in 1648. He was one of the king's judges, and signed the warrant for his execution. In February 1649 he was elected a member of the new Council of State after having himself been involved in drawing up the terms for its existence. Around this time he also married Elizabeth Thomas of Glamorgan.

After Oliver Cromwell's return from Ireland in June 1650, Cromwell appointed Ludlow as lieutenant-general of horse and second-in-command to Henry Ireton in Parliament's campaign there. Here he spared neither health nor money in the public service. He landed in Ireland in January 1651 and was involved in the Siege of Limerick (1650-51) . After Ireton's death on 26 November 1651, Ludlow then held the chief command, and had practically completed the conquest of the island when he resigned his authority to Fleetwood in October 1652.

Though disapproving of Cromwell's action in dissolving the Rump Parliament in April 1653, Ludlow maintained his employment. However, when Cromwell was declared Lord Protector after the failure of Barebone's Parliament he declined to acknowledge his authority.

After Oliver Cromwell's death Ludlow was returned for Hindon in Richard's parliament of 1659, but opposed the continuance of the protectorate. He sat in the restored Rump, and was a member of its Council of State and of the Committee of Safety after its second expulsion, and a commissioner for the nomination of officers in the army.

In July 1659, Edmond Ludlow was appointed commander-in-chief by the restored Rump Parliament of all forces in Ireland; and made Lieutenant-General of the Horse.

After the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, Ludlow took his seat in the Convention Parliament as member for Hindon, but his election was annulled on 18 May after the parliament ruled that all those that had been judges of Charles I during his trial should be arrested. Ludlow was not protected under the Pardon, Indemnity and Oblivion Act. Accordingly, on the proclamation of the king ordering the regicides to come in, Ludlow emerged from his concealment, and on 20 June surrendered to the Speaker; but finding that his life was not assured, he succeeded in escaping to Dieppe, France, travelled to Geneva and Lausanne, and thence to Vevey. On 16 April 1662 the canton of Bern granted Ludlow and two fellow fugitives, Lisle and Cawley, an act of protection allowing them to live in the canton. His wife joined him in 1663. For security he adopted the pseudonym of Edmund Phillips, based on a variant of his mother's maiden name. After the Glorious Revolution of 1688 opened up the prospect of a return, in 1689 Ludlow came back to England. He was however remembered only as a regicide, and an address from the House of Commons was presented to William III by Sir Edward Seymour requesting the king to issue a proclamation for his arrest. Ludlow escaped again, and returned to Vevey, where he died in 1692.

Sources

1. Oxford University Alumni 2. Edmund Ludlow - Wikipedia

• British History online: Proclamation for apprehending the late King's Judges