Henry Dudley (1531–1557)

Henry Dudley, (c. 1531 – 10 August 1557) was an English soldier and an elder brother of Queen Elizabeth I's favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. Their father was John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, who led the English government from 1550–1553 under Edward VI and unsuccessfully tried to establish Lady Jane Grey on the English throne after the King's death in July 1553. For his participation in this venture Henry Dudley was imprisoned in the Tower of London and condemned to death. He Was killed in the Battle of St. Quentin shortly after his rehabilitation.

Henry Dudley was born c. 1531 and was the fifth son of Sir John Dudley, later Viscount Lisle, Earl of Warwick and Duke of Northumberland, and his wife Jane Guildford. The Dudley lineage goes back to a family called Sutton. In the early 14th century they became the lords of Dudley Castle, from whom Henry descended through his paternal grandfather. This was Edmund Dudley, a councillor to Henry VII, who was executed after his royal master's death. Through his father's mother, Elizabeth Grey, Viscountess Lisle, Guildford descended from the Hundred Years War heroes, Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, and John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury.