Mrs. Beatrice McClellan White (1898 – 1969), of Longbridge Deverill, writing in 1960, noted:
In Hill Deverill there seems to be only one family of long duration, that is the Ludlows of the Manor. This family, according to Camden, supposedly derived their name originally from the town of Ludlow in Shropshire. It seems the Ludlows got possession of Hill Deverill Manor early in the 15th century and retained possession of it until 1664 when Elizabeth, only child of the Ludlows, married Sir Henry Coker who then held the Manor until 1736.
A special note of interest is that Edmund Ludlow, the Republican General who placed his signature to the death warrant of Charles 1st was born at South Court (now New Mead Farm), Maiden Bradley, in 1620. He was the son of Sir Henry Ludlow of Hill Deverill, and although the Manor of Hill Deverill was the paternal home of the Ludlows, the family seems to have deserted it for a period and were living in this house about four miles distant and rented from the Seymours, but later they must have returned to Hill Deverill, as we find somewhere about 1644, Sir Henry Coker living there having married Elizabeth, heiress to Edmund Ludlow (not the General). This Edmund was the last male of the Hill Deverill line. There were other branches of the Ludlow family, one at Warminster and another at Baycliffe.
The Ludlows seem to have had connections by marriage with the Cokers (female) several generations before the marriage of Sir Henry Coker of Maypowder in Dorset to Elizabeth Ludlow. It was this marriage which brought the Hill Deverill Ludlows into the Coker family, and if tradition is true it was Thomas, grandson of Henry Coker, who succeeded in wasting or getting rid of the Ludlow fortune.
General Ludlow died in Switzerland, to which country he escaped on the accession to the throne of Charles 2nd. He died at the age of 78, his wife following him to Switzerland. He was buried at the church in Vevey, Switzerland, and his wife had a memorial placed to him in that church. He left no issue.
His wife (who was a Wenvoe of Wenvoe Castle, Glamorganshire) remarried Sir John Thomas of Wenvoe Castle, but there must have been a lot of difference in their ages, as on their memorial in Wenvoe Church, their ages are as follows ~ ‘John Thomas of Wenvoe Castle died 24th Jan 1703-4 aged 39. His Wife Elizabeth died Feb 1702-4 aged 72’ but these dates do not agree with the Register which gives the burial year of Dame Elizabeth as 1701 and Sir Thomas as 1703.
General Ludlow held the Manor of Yarnfield.