Dudley North, 4th Baron North

Lord North

Dudley North, 4th Baron North K.B. (1602 – 24 June 1677) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1628 and 1660.

Life

North was the elder son of Dudley North, 3rd Baron North and his wife Frances Brockett, daughter of Sir John Brocket of Brocket Hall in Hertfordshire. In 1616 he was created Knight of the Bath.^[1] He was admitted at St John's College, Cambridge in 1619 and was also admitted at Gray's Inn in August 1619. In 1620 he joined the volunteer regiment for the relief of the German Palatinate and served in Holland. He travelled in Italy, France and Spain.^[2] In 1628 he was elected Member of Parliament for Horsham and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years.^[1]

In April 1640, North was elected MP for Cambridgeshire in the Short Parliament. He was re-elected in November 1640 as MP for Cambridgeshire in the Long Parliament.^[1]

In 1660, North was elected Member of Parliament for Cambridge in the Convention Parliament.^[1] On the death of his father in January 1667 he succeeded to the title Baron North.

North was an accomplished man, of studious bent,^[3] and wrote on economics and religious subjects. He published, besides other things, Passages relating to the Long Parliament, of which he had himself been a member, and Observations and Advices Oeconomical. He also wrote poetry for private consumption.^[4]

North died in 1677 and was buried at Kirtling, Cambridgeshire, on 27 June 1677.^[1]

Family

North married Anne Montagu daughter of Sir Charles Montagu, brother of the 1st Earl of Manchester, thereby increasing the family fortune.^[3] They had fourteen children. His eldest son, Charles (c. 1636–1691), was created Baron Grey of Rolleston during his father's life, and succeeded his father as 5th Baron North. His third son, Francis North, became Lord Chancellor as Lord Guilford. His fourth son was Sir Dudley North, the economist. His fifth son was John North (1645–1683), master of Trinity College, Cambridge, and professor of Greek in the university. His sixth son was Roger North, the lawyer and historian.^[3] One of his daughters, Mary, married Sir William Spring MP.

References

1. History of Parliament Online - North, Sir Dudley
2. "North, Dudley (NRT619D)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
3.  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "North, Barons". Encyclopædia Britannica. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 758.
4. Dale B. J. Randall: "North, Dudley, fourth Baron North (1602–1677)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, UK: OUP, 2004). Retrieved 24 June 2015. Pay-walled.