According to a bill produced in the Star Chamber by his political rival in Staffordshire, Gilbert Lyttelton,[2] in 1592, he had "left that virtuous lady his wife in London without sustenance, and took to his home a lewd and infamous woman, a base collier's daughter".
[3] In 1597, Ferdinando and his sister, Anne, were lodged in Clerkenwell with Euseby Paget, rector of St Anne and St Agnes, and Mrs. Percy as wards of their aunt and uncle, Elizabeth and Edward Montagu of Boughton.
[4] The Privy Council made arrangements for a settlement and payments but Lord Dudley refused to pay.
[10] According to William Dugdale, her grandfather arranged her marriage to Ward to alleviate his debts, which were large because of his relationship with Elizabeth Tomlinson.
On the previous day he bequeathed his estates and possessions to his sister "Margaret Dudley", wife of Miles Hobart.