George Duncan Ludlow (29 September 1734 – 13 November 1808) was a lawyer and

Puisne Judge A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...

of the Supreme Court of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Province of New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the U ...

in the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th cent ...

who became the first

Chief Justice of New Brunswick The Chief Justice of the Province of New Brunswick, Canada holds the highest office within the Province's judicial system. The Chief Justice is a member of the Court of Appeal, the highest court in the Province which includes five other judges plus ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Early life

Ludlow was born on 29 September 1734 in Queens County on Long Island in the

in what was then British America. He was the son of Gabriel Ludlow (1704–1773), a merchant, and Frances ( née Duncan) Ludlow. Among his siblings was his younger brother Gabriel George Ludlow. After his mother's death, his father married Elizabeth Crommelin, with whom he had Daniel Ludlow, George's younger half-brother. His sister, Elizabeth Ludlow, was the wife of Francis Lewis Jr. (brother of Gov. Morgan Lewis). The first Ludlow in America was his grandfather, also named Gabriel Ludlow (1663–1736), who was born at Castle Cary and left

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in eastern Somerset, England. The town is built on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, and centres on the River Frome. The town, about south of Bath, is the largest in the Mendip d ...

around 1694 to settle in New Amsterdam, and became a prominent and influential merchant, shipowner, landholder and longtime clerk of the

New York General Assembly The General Assembly of New York, commonly known internationally as the New York General Assembly, and domestically simply as General Assembly, was the supreme legislative body of the Province of New York during its period of proprietal coloni ...

. He obtained a patent from King

George II George II or 2 may refer to: People * George II of Antioch (seventh century AD) * George II of Armenia (late ninth century) * George II of Abkhazia (916–960) * Patriarch George II of Alexandria (1021–1051) * George II of Georgia (1072–1089) ...

for a tract of 4,000 acres of land in what became

Orange County, New York Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 401,310. The county seat is Goshen. This county was first created in 1683 and reorganized with its present boundaries in 1798. Orange ...

on the west bank of the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

. His grandfather's grandfather, Thomas Ludlow, was the brother of both Gabriel Ludlow, Receiver of the

Duchy of Lancaster The Duchy of Lancaster is the private estate of the British sovereign as Duke of Lancaster. The principal purpose of the estate is to provide a source of independent income to the sovereign. The estate consists of a portfolio of lands, properti ...

during the reign of King

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, and

Roger Ludlow Roger Ludlow (1590–1664) was an English lawyer, magistrate, military officer, and colonist. He was active in the founding of the Colony of Connecticut, and helped draft laws for it and the nearby Massachusetts Bay Colony. Under his and John Ma ...

, Deputy Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The wealth and status of the Ludlow family gave George and his brothers "several advantages, including education in a private school." He spent a short period as an apprentice

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Amer ...

before turning to the law.

Career

After studying law, Ludlow was admitted to the bar, and rose quickly within the profession. He focused his practice on commercial cases and was often employed either as an arbitrator or an adjustor. Ludlow was able to amass a fortune quickly and retire early to a large estate on his native Long Island. Shortly after his retirement, however, he was appointed judge of the

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

, and on December 14, 1769, he was commissioned as a judge of the Supreme Court of Judicature and served as

Master of the Rolls The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the President of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and Head of Civil Justice. As a judge, the Master of ...

. After Ludlow was passed over for the office of Chief Justice of the Province of New York in 1780, in favor of William Smith, he resigned from the bench. As a consolation, Governor James Robertson appointed him Chief Superintendent of the police for Long Island in 1780. During the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

, he remained loyal to the

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

. At the close of the war, his property, including his 140-acre estate in Hyde Park, passed to the State under the

Confiscation Confiscation (from the Latin ''confiscatio'' "to consign to the ''fiscus'', i.e. transfer to the treasury") is a legal form of seizure by a government or other public authority. The word is also used, popularly, of spoliation under legal forms, ...

Act of 1779, and in 1781, he abandoned his estate at

Hempstead Plains The Hempstead Plains is a region of central Long Island, in what is now Nassau County, in New York State. It was once an open expanse of native grassland estimated to once extend to about . It was separated from the North Shore of Long Island by ...

to return to England, leaving his family behind until he could arrange their settlement elsewhere. He later "estimated the price of his loyalty at £6,500 in real and personal estate." Along with his brother

Gabriel In Abrahamic religions ( Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብ ...

, he settled in the newly created Province of New Brunswick in Canada where the British Government gave them large tracts of land for the losses they sustained in New York. In 1784, he was named the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Province of New Brunswick. James Putnam, Isaac Allen, and Joshua Upham were appointed as assistant judges. His brother Gabriel was named the first mayor of the important

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

city of

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of K ...

. As chief justice he was a member of the original council that was to administer the province and he "participated in all decisions regarding legislation and justice" throughout

Thomas Carleton General Thomas Carleton (c. 1735 – 2 February 1817) was an Irish-born British Army officer who was promoted to colonel during the American Revolutionary War after relieving the siege of Quebec in 1776. After the war, he was appointed as L ...

's governorship. Ludlow and his brother held these positions for the next 25 years until his death in 1808.

Controversial views

Ludlow, a slaveholder himself, upheld slavery in New Brunswick in a controversial court case in February 1800, ''

R v Jones Reginald Victor Jones , FRSE, LLD (29 September 1911 – 17 December 1997) was a British physicist and scientific military intelligence expert who played an important role in the defence of Britain in by solving scientific and technical pr ...

''. George Ludlow found that slavery was lawful based on customs in North America despite there being no British statute legalizing it. However, by 1820 slavery ended in New Brunswick, partly due to the controversy arising from the 1800 decision. George Duncan Ludlow also served on a local board of commissioners for the Sussex Vale Indian Residential School where he advocated for the total removal of Indigenous children from their parents.

Personal life

On 22 April 1758, Ludlow married his cousin, Frances Duncan, a daughter of Thomas Duncan and Mary (née Ketcham) Duncan. In 1764, the Duncan home, a 3-story house on Pearl Street (then known as Queen Street), caught fire and burned to the ground, killing her mother and seven siblings in the nursery on the third floor. Only Frances, her father and her younger sister Arabella escaped. Arabella later married George's younger half-brother, Daniel Ludlow. Together, Frances and George were the parents of one son and two daughters, including: * Frances Duncan Ludlow (1766–1797) was the second wife of

Richard Harison Richard Harison (January 12, 1747 (O.S.)He was born on January 12, 1747, in the then used Julian Calendar; this date corresponds to January 23, 1748, in the Gregorian Calendar which has been used in America since 1752. in New York City – De ...

, a law partner of Alexander Hamilton who served as the

Recorder of New York City The Recorder of New York City was a municipal officer of New York City from 1683 until 1907. He was at times a judge of the Court of General Sessions, the Court of Special Sessions, and the New York Court of Common Pleas; Vice-President of the Boar ...

and the 1st U.S. Attorney for the District of New York. * Elizabeth Ludlow (1768–1826), who married John Robinson, a Lt. in the

Royal American Regiment The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...

who was a son of Col.

Beverley Robinson Beverley Robinson (11 January 1721 – 9 April 1792), was a Virginia-born soldier who became a wealthy colonist of the Province of New York and is best known as a Loyalist during the American Revolutionary War. Robinson married Susanna Philips ...

and Susanna Philipse. * George Duncan Ludlow (1773–1847), who married Mrs. Carson, who was born in the

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, in 1825. After her death, he married Camille Bernier in

Paris, France Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. Ludlow acquired about 1,500 acres about five miles north of the new province's capital of Fredericton where he built a large home on the Saint John River, which he called Spring Hill after the estate of Lieutenant Governor

Cadwallader Colden Cadwallader Colden (7 February 1688 – 28 September 1776) was a physician, natural scientist, a lieutenant governor and acting Governor for the Province of New York. Early life Colden was born on 7 February 1688 in Ireland, of Scottish pare ...

, his New York patron of the 1760s. In February 1808, his brother Gabriel died and he suffered a paralytic stroke the following month that rendered him largely incapacitated until his death at Spring Hill on November 13, 1808. He was buried at the Old Burial Ground in Fredericton.

Legacy

The village of

Ludlow Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The ...

in Northumberland County is named in his honour. In 2019, a portrait of Ludlow was removed from Ludlow Hall, which houses the Faculty of Law, on the campus of the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universities in North Ameri ...

. On 26 May 2020, his name was removed from the Hall amid disputes about his controversial political stances.

References

External links

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