Dugdale was born on 29 March 1922, the son of
Sir William Francis Stratford Dugdale, 1st Bt of the
Noble House of Stratford, and Margaret Gilmour. Educated at
Eton College and
Balliol College, Oxford, he succeeded to the title of 2nd Baronet Dugdale, of Merevale and Blyth, co. Warwick [UK, 1936] on 18 April 1965. He fought in the
Second World War, where he was mentioned in despatches, gaining the rank of captain in the service of the
Grenadier Guards, having been commissioned into that regiment on 27 September 1941 and after serving in the ranks in the
Royal Berkshire Regiment. His
service number was 207638. He was decorated with the award of the
Military Cross (M.C.) in 1943 for outstanding bravery whilst under fire. He
fought at Anzio, and ended the war guarding the German generals at Nuremberg. He was a practising solicitor in 1949. He held the office of Justice of the Peace (J.P.) for Warwickshire in 1951 and office of Deputy Lieutenant (D.L.) of Warwickshire in 1955. He held the office of
High Sheriff of Warwickshire for 1971. He held the office of Sheriff of Stratford-upon-Avon in 1976. He was invested as a Commander, Order of the British Empire (C.B.E.) in 1985. He also enjoyed success in racing, riding in the Grand National in 1953 and then becoming the Chief Disciplinary steward in the Jockey Club, the organisation that ran the Racing industry. He was chairman of General Utilities plc between 1988 and 1999 and was made head of the National Water Council in 1983, helping then Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher with the unions in the water industry. He lived in 2003 at
Merevale Hall,
Atherstone, Warwickshire and at 24 Bryanston Mews West, London. ==Family==