Civil War
He served as an army officer in the Bishops War and on the Royalist side throughout the English Civil War. In 1648, he and others were captured by Andrew Yarranton (a Parliamentary captain) in "Bosco Bello" (Boscobel) woods, while they were planning a Royalist rising to seize Dawley Castle. He was sent to London and tried for treason. He and his fellow conspirators were condemned to death, but escaped during "sermon time" from the Gatehouse, the prison at Westminster where they were held.
He escaped to Bristol and lived in hiding as "Dr Hunt", a medical doctor. In 1651, shortly before the 1638 patetn was due to expire, he set up lead smelting works in partnership with connections of a medical patient, using an "old belhouse for the bloomery" at Clifton, Bristol. This was probably a reverberatory furnace and the first known use of such for this purpose. This did not work out, but it is possible that he was associated with a later venture at Stockley Slade (now Nightingale Valley) on the other side of the Avon.
Read more about this topic: Dud Dudley
Famous quotes related to civil war:
“At Hayes’ General Store, west of the cemetery, hangs an old army rifle, used by a discouraged Civil War veteran to end his earthly troubles. The grocer took the rifle as payment ‘on account.’”
—Administration for the State of Con, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)