Ludlow, EDMUND

Ludlow, EDMUND, a sturdy English republican and regicide, was born of a good old family at Maiden Bradley, Wiltshire, in 1617; studied at Trinity College, Oxford; and at the outbreak of the Civil War was a student in the Temple. He volunteered into Essex's life-guards, saw service under Waller and Fairfax, was returned in his father's room to parliament for Wiltshire in 1646, sat among the king's judges, and had a place in the council of state of the Commonwealth. In 1651 he was sent to Ireland as lieutenant-general of horse, and held the chief command for six months between the death of Ireton and the arrival of Fleetwood. He refused to recognise Cromwell's protectorate, and until his death took no further part in public affairs. Returned to parliament for Hindon in 1659, he urged the restoration of the Rump, held command again for a few months in Ireland, was nominated by Lambert to the committee of safety, and strove in vain to reunite the broken ranks of the old republican party. Four months after the Restoration he fled to France for safety, making his way to Vevey in Switzerland, where he lived in security, troubled only by the dread of Cavalier assassins. After the Revolution he returned to England, but, the House of Commons presenting an address to William III. craving for his arrest, he returned to Vevey, and died there in 1692. Ludlow's Memoirs is one of the best contemporary sources of knowledge we possess, and its author was a man of solid, stubborn, and truthful temper. It covers the whole period from 1640 to 1688, and was first printed in three volumes in 1698-99; new ed. by Firth (1894).