But first Edward had to endure an outbreak of bubonic plague when he was six years old. In severity, it was second only to the plague of 1345. Some evidence suggests Dudley’s population was halved. Certainly, nearby Birmingham was decimated. Having survived, this, Edward grew up in an era of social change as the country rejected Puritan ways, theatres reopened, and Charles II led a merry court.

Edward became a saddler. This was a skilled trade making saddles to closely grip the thighs of the rider and hold him in place while he rode with almost straight legs. When the king gave approval for three Dudley fairs per year in addition to the regular market, it became a significant horse-trading place. New custom came from some distance and would have benefitted Edward’s business.

Edward married twice, forming valuable alliances each time. His first marriage in 1681 was to Mary Wells, the mayor’s daughter. They had two children before tragedy struck and Mary died in childbirth. Her son was baptised the day of her burial and named Edward after his father.

Edward spent three years a widower. These years corresponded with the reign of James II whose unpopular Catholicism prompted the “Glorious Revolution” of 1688, a bloodless coup is which he was replaced by his daughter (Mary) and son-in-law (William of Orange).

Edward’s second marriage was to Mary Payton. The Paytons were well-off yeoman who moved in the upper circles and made advantageous marriages. Edward’s elder brother, John, had married Ann Payton who appears to have been Mary’s sister.

By the time Edward Hodgetts was born, the Puritan government was in disarray and the exiled son of the beheaded king was soon invited home to be crowned King Charles II. He promised a reign of religious tolerance. However, once the Church of England was restored, Anglicans wanted revenge for the years of Protestant rule. New laws dictated the form of prayers and required all government, military, and church officials to conform. About one fifth of clergymen refused and were ejected from the church. They and their followers were dubbed “non-conformists” or “dissenters” and forbidden from meeting together or holding public office. His father conformed, but Edward and his children would live with the effects of this persecution.

But first Edward had to endure an outbreak of bubonic plague when he was six years old. In severity, it was second only to the plague of 1345. Some evidence suggests Dudley’s population was halved. Certainly, nearby Birmingham was decimated. Having survived, this, Edward grew up in an era of social change as the country rejected Puritan ways, theatres reopened, and Charles II led a merry court.

Edward became a saddler. This was a skilled trade making saddles to closely grip the thighs of the rider and hold him in place while he rode with almost straight legs. When the king gave approval for three Dudley fairs per year in addition to the regular market, it became a significant horse-trading place. New custom came from some distance and would have benefitted Edward’s business.

Edward married twice, forming valuable alliances each time. His first marriage in 1681 was to Mary Wells, the mayor’s daughter. They had two children before tragedy struck and Mary died in childbirth. Her son was baptised the day of her burial and named Edward after his father.

Edward spent three years a widower. These years corresponded with the reign of James II whose unpopular Catholicism prompted the “Glorious Revolution” of 1688, a bloodless coup is which he was replaced by his daughter (Mary) and son-in-law (William of Orange).

Edward’s second marriage was to Mary Payton. The Paytons were well-off yeoman who moved in the upper circles and made advantageous marriages. Edward’s elder brother, John, had married Ann Payton who appears to have been Mary’s sister.

The benefits of the Hodgetts-Payton alliance would be felt for generations as, by the turn of the century, the Paytons were a considerable force and owned whole streets in the town.
Edward was a prominent member of the church vestry and became Mayor of Dudley in 1714. That year, the throne passed to George of Hanover, a Protestant. This prompted religious fears which erupted into rioting. A mob attacked Dudley’s Presbyterian Meeting House and “scarcely a dissenter escaped insult or injury” when it was burnt down to cries of “Down with Roundheads!”

As mayor, Edward Hodgetts would have been involved in quelling the riot. There was no police force so local officials called out the militia but this was a part-time force made up of landowners, some of whom were reluctant to help.

The disturbance was so serious and widespread that it prompted the Riot Act to be passed the following month. If any further such “unlawful, riotous or tumultous” assembly occurred, Edward was authorised to ride to the centre of it and issue the following warning:

“Our sovereign Lord the King chargeth and commandeth all Persons, being assembled, immediately to disperse themselves and peaceably to depart to their Habitations, or to their lawful Business upon the Pains contained in the Act made in the first Year of King George, for preventing Tumults and Riotous Assemblies.
God save the King.”

The crowd then had one hour to disperse or were liable to the death penalty.

Even in peaceful times, Edward’s mayoral duties included presiding over the local court and handing out summary judgements.

Edward disappears from the churchwarden records from the time of the riot so may have joined the dissenters.

Edward and Mary died in the 1720s having witnessed England begin the transition to the modern system of a cabinet government led by a prime minister.

Edward left three surviving sons and at least two daughters. His eldest son, like him, was a saddler. The two younger sons would enter a different leather trade.

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Sources & Notes

The Paytons: Edward Chitham, The Story of Dudley, The History Press, 2014, p58-9, 65-6, 79-81, 90-100; Act of Uniformity Wikipedia, Rtd 17/7/2022.

Saddler and fair: Chitham, p85; Saddler history: ‘Making a 17th Century Saddle’, OneSixthWarriors.com, Rtd 19/5/2022; Release by John Buffery of the Lye, parish of Oldswinford, yeoman to Edward Hodgetts of Dudley, saddler of 3r. of land in Church Field, Dudley, 11/7/1690, Dudley Archives.

St Thomas’ Churchwardens book 1618-1725, Midland Ancestors