The Street Seen: Thomas Horace Dudley (1867 – 1934)
Ocean Park People
T.H. Dudley is involved in very many Santa Monica enterprises and Santa Monica politics.
Born in Leicestershire, UK, Dudley comes to Bakersfield, CA, in 1889. He moves to Santa Monica in 1896 and begins real estate and insurance businesses.
In 1899, Dudley marries Matilda Brooks Ryan, widow of Francis Ryan, and becomes Kinney’s partner in the Ocean Park Improvement Company - he is the Dudley of Dudley Ave in Venice. Dudley and Kinney do not get along, and Dudley sells his half interest in the company to Alexander Fraser, Herbert Gage, and George Merritt Jones (who did not get along with Kinney either).
In 1900, Dudley is elected a member of the Santa Monica City Board of Trustees, serving as chairman of the Board until 1907. Upon the reorganization of the city government under a Freeholders Charter in 1907, Dudley is elected mayor 1907 - 1912 and 1914 - 1916. He is involved in very many Santa Monica enterprises. He is president of the Ocean Park Bank.
Dudley is a tennis enthusiast and is the donor of the Dudley tennis cup, a perpetual trophy for Southern California players of high school age.