Andrew Judde

He was born before February, 1492, in Tonbridge, Kent, the third son of John Judde, (d. 1493), gentleman, and Margaret, daughter of Valentine Chiche.^[1][2] His mother was the granddaughter of an earlier Lord Mayor of London, Robert Chichele, and great-niece of Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury, and William Chichele, Sheriff of London.^[3] He left for London and apprenticed with the Skinners Company; he was later the master of the company for four terms. He accumulated a large fortune, part of which he used to establish Tonbridge School in his home town. During his career as a merchant, he personally travelled to Russia, Spain, and the coast of Africa.

After the dissolution of the property of the military order, the Knights of St John in England, their Battisford Preceptory was given to Judde by Henry VIII in July 1543. He soon gained permission to sell it on, the property passing to Sir Richard Gresham in April 1544.^[4]

He served as one of the Sheriffs of London in 1544, and was elected Lord Mayor of London in 1550.^[5] As a result of his vigorous opposition to Wyatt's Rebellion, he gained the favour of Queen Mary and Philip II of Spain. He served as Mayor of the Staple of Calais.

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  Tonbridge School, founded by Andrew Judde
• 
  The Judd School, founded by the Skinners Company, is named after Andrew Judde

Sir Andrew Judde was married three times.^[1]

• He married first, by 1523,^[6] Mary (d. 1542), daughter of Thomas Murfyn (d. 1523), an earlier Lord Mayor of London, and his first wife, Alice Marshall.^[7] By her he had four sons, two of whom survived, and a daughter:^[1]
  • John Judde
  • Richard Judde
  • Alice Judde, who married Thomas Smythe (1522–1591), collector of customs for London.^[1]

(His first wife's half sister, Frances Murfyn (c. 1520–c. 1543), married, in 1534, Thomas Cromwell's nephew, Richard.^[8] Alice Squire (d. 1560), the widow of her brother, Edward Murfyn, married circa 1528, Edward North (later Baron North).^[9])

• He married a second time, in 1542, to Agnes (Annys), about whom nothing is known.^[1]
• His third and final marriage was in 1552 to Mary (d. 1602),^[10] the wealthy widow of another skinner, Thomas Langton, and daughter of Thomas Mathews of Colchester. By his last wife, he had a daughter:^[1]
  • Martha Judde, who married Robert Golding in Essex.^[1] Her mother bequeathed to them the furniture of the Queen's Chamber at Latton, and silverware with the arms of Andrew Judde.^[11]

Judde died on 4 September 1558 and was buried in St Helen's, Bishopsgate, London.^[1]