William Humble Eric Ward, 3rd Earl of Dudley, MCTD (30 January 1894 – 26 December 1969), known as Viscount Ednam until 1932, was a British Conservative Party politician.
"I cannot stand homosexuals. They are the most disgusting people in the world... Prison is much too good a place for them; in fact, that is a place where many of them like to go—for obvious reasons."[7][8][9]
Gay rights activist Peter Tatchell said, "The Earl of Dudley's contribution in the Lords sums up the level of the opposition's argument [to the bill]."[7]
John Jeremy Ward (1922–1929), who died in childhood.
Peter Alistair Ward (1926–2008), who married Claire Leonora Baring, a granddaughter of Guy Baring, in 1956. They had several children including the actress and environmentalist Tracy Louise Ward and actress Rachel Ward before divorcing.
Dudley died in December 1969, aged 75, and was succeeded by his eldest son William.
After his death, his widow lived with the American editor Robert B. Silvers for nearly four decades from 1975 until her death in 2016.[11][12]
Other relationships
He is said to have fathered a daughter, Judy Montagu, in 1923 with the aristocrat and socialite Venetia Stanley, although the legal father was her husband Edwin Samuel Montagu. [13] She grew up to befriend Princess Margaret during World War II and marry the American photographer Milton Gendel, with whom she created an artistic salon in Italy.[14]
Mandy Rice-Davies claimed that the Earl was one of the customers at Murray's Cabaret Club, where she worked as a showgirl, and that he proposed to her when she was 17. "I could have been a dowager duchess by the time I was 22." she said.[15]