Earl of Dudley

[1] She married Sir Humble Ward, the son of a wealthy goldsmith and jeweller to King Charles I (see Baron Dudley for more history of the Sutton family).

On Lord Dudley and Ward's early death the titles passed to his posthumous son, the ninth and fourth Baron.

He was succeeded by his eldest son, the third Earl of Dudley, who represented Hornsey and Wednesbury in the House of Commons as a Conservative.

Sir John Hubert Ward (1870–1938), second son of the first Earl, was a major in the army and courtier.

Robert Ward, third son of the first Earl, was Conservative Member of Parliament for Crewe.

Edward Frederick Ward (1907–1987), third son of the second Earl, was a group captain in the Royal Air Force.

The 1st Earl of Dudley of the 1860 creation was originally buried in the crypt of Saint Michael and All Angels Church in Great Witley, but was later moved to Worcester Cathedral where he is commemorated with a large funerary monument.

His more recent successors – including the 4th Earl and his wife – rest in a private burial ground at Himley.

Located at the rear of Himley's parish church, it is laid out as a memorial garden and normally closed to the public.

He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford, and was styled as Viscount Ednam between 1969 and 2013.

[6] On 3 July 1972 Dudley married firstly Sarah Mary Coats, daughter of Captain Sir Alastair Francis Stuart Coats, 4th Baronet, and his wife Lukyn Gordon; they were divorced in 1976, and in the same year he married secondly Debra Louise Pinney, daughter of George Robert Pinney.

[6] The heir presumptive to the peerages is the present peer's younger half-brother Leander Grenville Dudley Ward (born 1971).