Howard Dudley

Howard Dudley (1820–1864) wrote the first illustrated history of Horsham, West Sussex, in 1836. The book was entitled The History and Antiquities of Horsham and its Vicinities. He also produced the lithographs and woodcuts that were used as the illustrations, and then went on to print the book himself. Dudley was only 15 at the time.

This was Dudley’s second book; the first being a wider ranging history of Sussex entitled Juvenile Researches of which he produced two editions in 1835 and 1836.

The two texts are extremely rare today and are unlikely to become available on the open market. However, facsimile copies have been reproduced on two occasions and now the full text and images of the Horsham book are available online. The first facsimile was published by Cecil Cramp in 1973 and features images of a superior quality to its successor in 2002 published by Dick Richardson. The Horsham book is dedicated to the Right Hon George O’Brien Wyndam, Earl of Egremont and Baron Cockermouth.

Born in 1820, Dudley was the only son of Quaker parents George and Sarah Dudley. He spent his early years in Fleet Street, London but on the death of his father in 1827 the family moved to Eastbourne, West Sussex, near to Midhurst. Dudley married Jane Ellen Young on December 1, 1849 in Edinburgh, and returned to London three years later.

Howard Dudley died childless of consumption on July 4, 1844. Dick Richardson’s book, upon which the above text draws, quotes Dudley’s obituary in Gentlemen’s Magazine: “Dudley was a mild and amiable man, affectionate in his domestic relations, and his gentlemanly manners, bright ideas and pungent remarks, and a very great choice of words, made him a delightful companion. He died with an earnest profession of his belief in Jesus Christ.”