Lieutenant William Dudingston was the commander of the much-hated, and ill-fated HMS Gaspee at the time of her demise at the hands of Rhode Island colonists in June 1772.  From simple conventions, we can assume that the William Dudingston of our concern was likely about 30 or 40 years old in 1772 at the time of the Gaspee attack. From the www.ScotlandsPeople.gov.uk website (₤6 charge to credit card) files we find a William Duddingston christened 20Nov1740  in Kilconquhar, Fife, Scotland to James Duddingston and Margaret Gillespie. The relationship is confirmed through family genealogical sources at: <http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~hollyweb/duddingston.htm>. The Duddingston-Dudingston-Duddingstone line has members back to the first Crusades. There is a Duddingston Village on the outskirts of Edinburgh, but the ancestral home of the clan is typically cited as Sanford (aka St. Ford) in the County of Fife. In 2012 Graham Johnston, a historical researcher of Earlsferry, sent along the following snippet:

I think I have discovered that the Dudingston family were in fact landed gentry in 17th and early 18th centuries and lived in the lands of St. Ford.  The significance of this is that St Ford is, as is or was Earlsferry, part of Kilconquhar parish so any births and marriage there would appear in Kilconquhar parish records.

Right:  The small village of Kilconquhar, Scotland in modern times.  Photo courtesy of Karen Ellsworth, 2009.

In searching for the genealogy, most people found spell the surname Duddingston with 2 middle d's, and almost all hail from Scotland. We have copies of documents signed here in America as Dudingston, with one middle "d". Perhaps William was trying to use a ruse to avoid his many lawsuits by deliberately misspelling his name. But he also used the one middle 'd' in his petition to the King for relief from his wounds.  

County Fife, where Dudingston was born, is a peninsula of the East coast of Scotland obviously conductive to maritime pursuits, and is across the Firth of Forth Bay from the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. From all of this, we can assume that our Lieutenant William Dudingston spoke with at least a moderately strong Scottish accent.

Left:  The ruins at Chapel Green built 1093, still extant in Earlsferry, Fife, Scotland.  Photo courtesy of Scott Reekie who presents a fascinating history of the village at http://home.bendbroadband.com/scottishheritage/

According to the excellent Navy List database information kindly provided by CH Donnithorne, Dudingston was first commissioned in the Royal Navy as a Lieutenant on 10Oct1759.  According to an N. Rodgers writing in The Wooden World: Anatomy of the Georgian Navy, p263,  for a man to qualify for a commission as a lieutenant, he was required to pass an examination after having served a minimum of six years at sea, two of which were served as a midshipman or master’s mate.  For this to be true, Lieutenant Dudingston had at least six years of experience at sea as an officer-in-training and must have entered into the Royal Navy sometime in 1753, at the tender age of 13.  But his first command was that of the Gaspee schooner on 13Sep1768, so we feel the 1759 date more probably reflects his date of actual entry into the Royal Navy, and he must have become eligible for Lieutenant sometime after 1765.

Right:  Photo c1950 of Earlsferry House .  William Dudingston had this very impressive seaside home built in the c1807, but it has since been demolished.  "The most notable part of the house that set it apart from all other houses in Earlsferry was the octagonal castellated tower above which was a flag pole. It was impressive to see the house on the days that the blue and white Scottish Cross of St. Andrew flew from the mast head."  Photo and information courtesy of Scott Reekie (for more details, see:  http://home.bendbroadband.com/scottishheritage/earlsferryhouse.html)

Judging from his daughter, Susan Sterling Duddingston, there was likely some relationship between the family and his banking firm of Goodsall (?) & Sterling, and it interesting that his wife was a Barclay (as in Barclays Bank), but both of these things are purely speculative. Graham Johnston of Earlsferry notes that (2012):

re his wife you might be right that she was moneyed – her father lived in Collarnie Castle see http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/31474/details/collairnie+castle/ and that suggests to me even more that William did not come from an impoverished background – it would be unusual for a person to marry into such a family unless he had some pedigree. 

TO DRESS A SHEEP’S HEAD.

742. INGREDIENTS.—1 sheep’s head, sufficient water to cover it, 3 carrots, 3 turnips, 2 or 3 parsnips, 3 onions, a small bunch of parsley, 1 teaspoonful of pepper, 3 teaspoonfuls of salt, 1/4 lb. of Scotch oatmeal.

Mode.—Clean the head well, and let it soak in warm water for 2 hours, to get rid of the blood; put it into a saucepan, with sufficient cold water to cover it, and when it boils, add the vegetables, peeled and sliced, and the remaining ingredients; before adding the oatmeal, mix it to a smooth batter with a little of the liquor. Keep stirring till it boils up; then shut the saucepan closely, and let it stew gently for 1–1/2 or 2 hours. It may be thickened with rice or barley, but oatmeal is preferable.

Time.—1–1/2 or 2 hours. Average cost, 8d. each.

Sufficient for 3 persons.

Seasonable at any time.

SINGED SHEEP’S HEAD.—The village of Dudingston, which stands “within a mile of Edinburgh town,” was formerly celebrated for this ancient and homely Scottish dish. In the summer months, many opulent citizens used to resort to this place to solace themselves over singed sheep’s heads, boiled or baked. The sheep fed upon the neighbouring hills were slaughtered at this village, and the carcases were sent to town; but the heads were left to be consumed in the place. We are not aware whether the custom of eating sheep’s heads at Dudingston is still kept up by the good folks of Edinburgh.