Lady Mary's uncle Colonel William Sydenham fought in the English Civil War on the side of Parliament.
Her other uncle, Dr Thomas Sydenham, was known for his study of epidemic diseases and served as a physician to Anne Finch, Viscountess Conway.
She also wrote significant poems in the retirement tradition, combining Platonic and Christian contemplation as a retreat from the vanities of life.
[15] Chudleigh is no longer thought to have written the prose work The Female Advocate (1700), but expressed in her poetry praise for the "ingenious Pen" of the unknown, pseudonymous Eugenia who did so.
[17] Poems on Several Occasions (London, 1703): By dedicating this to Queen Anne, Chudleigh sought protection from potential backlash.