[1] The younger Philip Ludwell was born in the Virginia colony to the formerly widowed Lucy Higginson Burwell; his immigrant father becoming her second husband.

His maternal grandfather Col. Higginson had earlier led the local James City County militia, and he had a sister, Lucy Ludwell.

The thrice-married Lady Berkeley was the richest person in the colony (with lands in both Virginia and what later became North Carolina) and a formidable force.

She died by 1695, without children from any of her husbands, so Philip Ludlow Sr. inherited her vast lands, which he ultimately left to his only son, though he also permanently moved to England by about 1700.

He also won election to the Bruton Parish vestry, became a trustee of the College of William and Mary, as well as served as rector of the new institution for a time.