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Roger Ludlow was born in 1590 in Dinton, Wiltshire, England and baptized on March 7, 1590. He was the son of Thomas and Jane (Pyle) Ludlow. The family, which was typical of the west country gentry, had first risen to prominence under Henry VIII.
Ludlow entered Balliol College, Oxford, in 1610, and two years later was admitted to the Inner Temple for the study of law.
At the meeting of the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Company held in London, February 10, 1630, Ludlow was elected an Assistant of the company; and on March 20 sailed from Plymouth on the Mary and John, known as "Mr. Ludlow's ship, " arriving at Massachusetts Bay on May 30, where he became one of the founders of Dorchester and took an active part in the early government of the colony.
In 1634 he was elected deputy-governor. The following year he threw in his lot with the colonists who were making settlements along the Connecticut River, and at Windsor, on April 26, 1636, presided, under a commission from Massachusetts, over the first court held in Connecticut. In 1646 the General Court requested him "to take some paynes in drawing forth a body of Laws for the government of this commonwealth; the result was "Ludlow's Code" or "The Code of 1650, " the first gathering together and codification of the Connecticut laws which had been enacted previous to that date. Meanwhile, as a direct result of the Pequot war, and probably as part of a well-planned policy of expansion against the Dutch, Ludlow had, in 1639, planted a settlement at Fairfield, whither he removed and from which town he was annually elected for the next fifteen years either as magistrate or deputy-governor, and during the years 1651-1653 as commissioner of the United Colonies of New England.
In 1654, owing either to irritation at the refusal of the colonies to back up his proposed expedition against the Dutch at Manhattan or because of a tempting offer from the Cromwellian government for his services at home, he suddenly returned to England, and in the autumn of that year we find him in Dublin as a member of a distinguished commission for the hearing and determination of claims in and to forfeited lands in Ireland, which was then undergoing the rigors of the Cromwellian Settlement. This office, together with others of high honor, he held until the collapse of the Commonwealth in 1660. That he continued to reside in Dublin until 1664 (when he was seventy-four years of age) is evident from various documents.
His return to England may be interpreted in the same light as that of the Mathers and many another who, from 1642 to 1659, left America to serve the Commonwealth in England, coming back later to reap fame in America; only Ludlow did his great work before he left and he did not, so far as is known, return.
Ludlow was considered as one of the founders of the Colony of Connecticut. He was credited with having drafted the Fundamental Orders adopted by the colony in January 1638/1639 which, embodied with some additions and changes in the Charter of 1662, remained the basis of Connecticut government until 1818.
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Ludlow was of quick temper and blunt speech. However, it is doubtful that these qualities seriously affected his career--despite the statements of those early biographers who knew nothing of his life subsequent to 1654. He was also honest, capable, and publicspirited to a high degree; it is obvious from the esteem in which he was held by his contemporaries.
Roger Ludlow was married to Mary Ludlow. His wife died in Dublin in 1664.
