Dudley was born at Johnson Hall, Eccleshall, Staffordshire during the American Revolution to Loyalist parents. His father, Charles Dudley, was an Englishman who had served as Collector of the King's Customs at Newport, Rhode Island, where he married Catherine Cooke, of a Rhode Island colonial family. His paternal grandparents were Thomas Dudley and Mary (néeLevett) Dudley of Staffordshire, England.[1]
In November 1775, his father had abandoned his office at Newport and sought refuge on board a British ship of war. The following year, he took up residence in England, where his wife joined him. The family remained in England until his father's death in 1790. In 1795, Dudley's mother returned to Rhode Island, bringing with her the fifteen-year-old youth, who was schooled in Newport.[1]
Career
Clipper ship sailing card for a ship named for his wife, Blandina
Near the beginning of the nineteenth century, Dudley worked as a clerk in a counting room and made voyages from New York to the East Indies as a supercargo. He later moved to Albany, New York, where he engaged in the mercantile business and married into a prominent political Albany family.[1]
Dudley took his seat on January 15, 1829, and remained in office until the end of his term on March 3, 1833.[2] He was an early example of the businessman in the Senate, where he played an inconspicuous role, but loyally supported the Jackson administration.[1]
Later life
Dudley retired at the end of his term and spent the rest of his life in Albany, retaining his interest in politics as Jackson, Van Buren and others worked to form the Democratic Party after the Democratic-Republicans split in 1824, depending on which presidential candidate they supported.[1]
Personal life
Dudley married Blandina Bleecker (1783–1863), a member of a prominent Albany family. Blandina was a daughter of Rutger Bleecker (a grandson of mayor Rutger Jansen Bleecker) and Catharine (née Elmendorf) Bleecker.[1]
Dudley was an amateur astronomer. In 1856, his widow provided funds for an observatory in Albany, the Dudley Observatory, which was named for her husband.[3]