 The benefaction proved significant when the expedition vessel sank and the castaways were forced to use the "Dudley Docker" for survival.In addition to Ludford, Docker's elder brother Ralph Docker also played cricket for Derbyshire.Robert Humm, "Dudley Docker and the railways", Journal of the Railway and Canal Historical Society, Vol 39 Part 3, No.230, Nov. 2017, pp 176–186.