Alice Dudley, Duchess of Dudley

Alice Dudley, Duchess of Dudley (née Leigh; 1579 – 22 January 1669), also known as Duchess Dudley, was the second wife of the explorer Sir Robert Dudley. In 1605, after giving birth to seven daughters, she was abandoned by her husband, who went into exile in Tuscany, remarried, and eventually sold his English estates. In 1644, by way of reparation for her losses, King Charles I created Alice Dudley a duchess in her own right "for her natural life", the dukedom thus created not being heritable.

Alice Leigh was a daughter of Sir Thomas Leigh, 1st Baronet (died 1625), of Stoneleigh Abbey, Warwickshire, who was created a baronet in 1611, by his marriage to Catherine, a daughter of Sir John Spencer of Wormleighton. Her father was the third son of Sir Thomas Leigh, Lord Mayor of London for 1558, and in 1643 her nephew Thomas (1595–1672) was created the first Baron Leigh. On 11 September 1596, at Ashow, Warwickshire, Alice Leigh married Sir Robert Dudley, the natural son of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, Queen Elizabeth I's favourite, by Lady Sheffield. A daughter of this marriage, who was to be the first of seven, was baptised on 25 September 1597. Five of their daughters reached adulthood: Alice (who married Sir Ferdinando Sutton), Douglas (who married William Dansey), Katherine (who married Sir Richard Leveson), Frances (who married Sir Gilbert Kniveton), and Anne (who married Sir Robert Holborne).

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