Dudd (Dud) Dudley (1600–1684) was an English metallurgist, who fought on the Royalist side in the English Civil War as a soldier, military engineer, and supplier of munitions. He was one of the first Englishmen to smelt iron ore using coke. Background and early life Dudley was the illegitimate son of Edward Sutton, 5th Baron Dudley of Dudley Castle. Dudd was the fourth of Lord Dudley's eleven children by his 'concubine' Elizabeth, the daughter of William Tomlinson (she died 3 July 1629). Strictly, he was called Dudd Dudley otherwise Tomlinson. His eldest brother was Robert Dudley of Netherton Hall. Dudd married Eleanor Heaton, (1606–1675), on 12 October 1626, at St. Helen's Church, Worcester. Lord Dudley (though he had a legitimate son, and a granddaughter by him, as well as four legitimate daughters and numerous grandchildren) seemed to have attended to the up-bringing of his natural children by Elizabeth Tomlinson; he educated and provided for them. On the other hand, he failed to support his wife and legitimate children, even after he was imprisoned and ordered to do so by the Privy Council in 1597. Dudd was raised at Himley Hall. As a youth, he began his study on the various processes of iron manufacturing at his father's iron works near Dudley. His speculations in the improvement of iron production were encouraged by his father, who gave him an education intended to enhance his practical abilities. Ironmaster In 1618, at the age of 20, Dud left Balliol College, Oxford, to take charge of his father's furnace and forges on Pensnett Chase. Later he referred to 'wood and charcoal growing then scant and pit-coles [coal] ... abounding', and so began to use the latter. He turned the coal into coke, a hard, foam-like mass of almost pure carbon made from bituminous coal, and later claimed to have perfected the use of coal instead of charcoal for iron production. Dudley probably modified his furnace to accommodate the new process, but the quantity of iron initially produced was reduced to about three tons a week from a furnace. Dudd wrote to his father, then in London, informing him of his success, desiring him to immediately seek a patent from King James. Dudley's patent, dated 22 February 1622, was taken out by (and in the name of) his father Edward, Lord Dudley. Dudley proceeded with the manufacture of iron at Pensnett, and Cradley in Staffordshire,