Edmund, son of Sir Henry Ludlow, was born at Maalen-Bradley, in Wilts, in 1620, and educated at Trinity College, Oxford. His father being opposed to the king's interest, Mr Ludlow joined the same party, and was present at the battle of Edgehill, 1642, as a volunteer, under the Earl of Essex. Upon the death of his father, he was chosen knight of the shire for Wilts, and obtained the command of a regiment of horse for the defence of that county. He was one of the judges of Charles I., and after his death was sent by the parliament into Ireland, 1650, in quality of lieutenant-general of the horse; an employment which he discharged with diligence and success until the death of the lord-deputy, Ireton, when he acted for some time as general, though without that title. Cromwell, who knew him to be sincerely in the interest of the commonwealth, had nevertheless not sufficient confidence in Ludlow to warrant him in elevating him formally to the generalship. When Cromwell assumed the protectorate, Ludlow gave in his "solid" protest against that step, and he even refused, on leaving Ireland, to yield the Protector an unqualified submission. He sought retirement in Essex until Oliver's death, when he used his efforts to restore the commonwealth; but Charles II., being recalled, he thought proper to conceal himself, and escaped into Switzerland, where he settled in 1660, in the neighbourhood of the town of Vevey, where more than one English refugee have found a home and a grave. After the Revolution he came over to England, 1689; but having appeared publicly in London, it gave great offence, and an address was presented by Sir Edward Seymour to King William III., praying for a proclamation in order to apprehend Colonel Ludlow, attainted for the murder of King Charles I. Upon this he returned to Switzerland, where he died in 1693, aged seventy-three years. Over the doorway of his house he placed the inscription, Omne solum fortis patria. His grave is still shown at Vevey. His Memoirs were written during his retirement in Switzerland, and published at Vevey, in two volumes, in 1698, which were followed by a third volume during the next year.

a parliamentary and municipal borough and market-town of England, Shropshire, on the left bank of the Teme at its junction with the Corvee, 35 miles W. by S. of Birmingham. It stands on a gentle acclivity, and is overlooked by an old castle, situate on a wooded eminence. The streets are spacious, the houses well built, and the town is well supplied with water. It contains a parish church, a cruciform edifice in the perpendicular style, erected in the beginning of the fourteenth century; chapels belonging to the various religious denominations; and several schools, one of which, the Free Grammar School, was founded by Edward VI. Besides these, there are a mechanics' institute, and a natural history society with a good museum. On a bold rock overhanging the river is the old and now ruined fortress of Ludlow, erected in the twelfth century by the lords of Montgomery, for the defence of the English border against the Welsh inroads. It was afterwards frequently honoured by the residence of royalty. The Duke of York held it for some time during the wars of the Roses, until he was forced to give it up in 1459 by the advance of the king's forces against him. Henry VII. made it his residence, and his son held court within its walls. In later times, Prince Charles, afterward Charles I., visited it; and in 1634 Milton's Comus was performed for the first time in its hall.

Ludlow is governed by a mayor, 4 aldermen, and 12 councillors, and returns 2 members to parliament. Markets on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. Pop. (1851), parliamentary borough, 5376; municipal borough, 4691.