Chapter VII: Part 7

Text size

The fabric of the house now went from bad to worse as it passed from one owner to another. Twenty years after the order for its dismantling was received, it was occupied by one Imanuel Halton, an auditor of the Duke of Norfolk. As a man of culture and learning he was more or less distinguished, being especially noted as an astronomer; while allowing much of the fabric to fall into ruins, he amused himself by decorating the crumbling walls with sun-dials, two of which remain. A piece of gross vandalism was perpetrated by this worthy, for he converted the magnificent banqueting hall into a two-floored dwelling-house, with chimneys in the centre, and made ugly structural alterations to the north windows to suit his convenience. The Halton family continued to enjoy the air of Wingfield, and to pull the manor house about, for the next hundred years, till, in 1744, the “powers that were” decided to pull down the lovely building, which they utilized as a convenient quarry from which to obtain stone for the erection of a truly ugly house—described as “a small box at the foot of the hill”—which is the present Hall. After this disgraceful exploit, the progress of decay was practically unchecked, and at this day the buildings are deteriorating more and more rapidly under the changes of our capricious climate. In the _Topographer_, by Shaw, vol. i., of 1789 (only fifteen years after the removal of the family residence to the new hall), it is stated that the roof was gone from the banqueting hall, and that all the arms and quarterings of the great family of Shrewsbury were open to the destructive influences of the weather. This was in 1789, yet in 1785—only four years previously—a sketch by Colonel Machell shows the banqueting hall as roofed and glazed. At the close of the eighteenth century a great part of the banqueting hall—between the lovely oriel window and the porch—fell down; about a quarter of a century later a tower in the south-east angle of the inner courtyard (at the back of the present farmhouse) collapsed utterly.

The statement often made that no less a person than the much maligned Oliver Cromwell was present at the fall of the manor house in person is, of course, a fiction used by some for the greater entertainment of visitors to the house. Nevertheless, it is a curious coincidence that by the power of a Lord Cromwell these magnificent buildings were raised from the ground, and that by the power and will of another Cromwell they were razed, in places, to the ground, but two hundred years separating the two events, and including much history of more than local interest.

The actual buildings form one of the most beautiful examples of fifteenth century domestic architecture to be found in the kingdom; hence Wingfield is far better known to the architectural student than to the historian. Of the present state of the walls, the less said and seen the better. To look at them recalls the lines from _Idylls of the King_ (Geraint and Enid):—

“All was ruinous.
Here stood a shatter’d archway plumed with fern
And here had fall’n a great part of a tower,
Whole, like a crag that tumbles from a cliff,
And like a crag was gay with wilding flowers:
And high above a piece of turret stair,
Worn by the feet that now are silent, wound
Bare to the sun, and monstrous ivy stems
Claspt the gray walls with hairy-fibred arms,
And sucked the joining of the stones, and look’d
A knot, beneath, of snakes, aloft, a grove.”

It is a pitiable sight to see some of the most beautiful and interesting parts of the grand old house in such a deplorable and tottering state. Nothing so much enhances the value, sentimentally, of an ancient building as a considerable fall of its walls; then, of course, a great outcry is raised—when it is too late. It is not the decay of past years which must be viewed with alarm, but the steady, increasing hold which ruin is obtaining on this structure. “Gutta cavat lapidem non vi, sed semper cadendo,” is a good maxim to remember, but if remembered in this case, it has never been thought sufficiently true to be worth acting upon. So year by year the stones fall and the mortar crumbles, the ivy, trees, etc., force their way between the stones, the frost shells off the fine, smooth surface of the ashlar, and the wind carries destruction, and future destruction in the form of seedlings, into every part of the beautiful buildings; and the people look on and admire the craft of their forefathers, but they do not stretch forth a hand to save what gives them pleasure. Their country has given them a great treasure, and they enjoy it and value it; they value it so much that they will see not one stone left upon another before they resort to methods of salvation; it is a ruin, it was a ruin, let it remain a ruin, they say. Some day it will be a ruin of such a nature that none shall recognize its likeness to a building, for when it falls down the steep hillsides, “great will be the fall thereof,” and the noise of its fall will be equalled only by the noise of lamentation at such a catastrophe.

The manor house consists of two courtyards, of which the southern is the larger, whilst the northern one contains the more beautiful specimens of architecture. The extreme length of the house is 416 feet, with a total width of 256 feet. There are two entrances to the south courtyard, one on the east in the southern corner and another on the west. The north courtyard is entered from the southern one by a fine gateway, flanked by two turrets, and the north wall is likewise pierced by a now destroyed entrance of fine proportions. There is also a small ogee-headed doorway opening into the kitchens on the west side. The south courtyard was bounded on the east by the retainers’ quarters, now a crumbling ruin; on the south by the fine old barn, still excellently preserved, and also the stables, long since destroyed. The west side, with its sally port, was formed by the quarters of the guards, and the north of the courtyard still retains the mutilated range of buildings which form the southern bounds of the north quadrangle. The farmhouse, which is now occupied, is a mere shell, as all the interior is modern.

The north courtyard has the great tower at its south-west angle, and from here, up the west side, runs the range of apartments once occupied by Mary Queen of Scots. The north boundary is formed by the kitchens on the west, the state apartments in the centre, and the grand banqueting hall on the east. The eastern boundary of this courtyard has disappeared, and here, it is conjectured, was the chapel, which no doubt the Halton family utilized as a quarry, as being to them the least useful part of the house. The southern boundary is formed by the farmhouse and buildings already mentioned as being the northern limit of the south court.

The glory of Wingfield Manor House is the banqueting hall, with its undercroft beneath it. This noble chamber, now sadly mutilated, is 72 ft. 2½ in. long and 36 ft. 1 in. in width. The most notable feature in this scene of by-gone revelry and lavish hospitality is the great oriel window, a piece of architectural excellence hardly to be equalled elsewhere in the kingdom. This beautiful projection is situated at the east end of the south front of the hall, whilst at the opposite end of the same side is a porch, which is well worthy of a place in the same edifice as the above-mentioned window. This porch is of two floors; the ground floor gives entrance to the banqueting hall, and is entered by an archway of boldly conceived design, on which is cut a series of handsome flower petals. On the right of the entrance is a little traceried window, which can only be described as a glittering gem of architecture. The battlements which still remain over porch and oriel window are now denuded of their quartered shields, but the excellent diapered pattern, consisting of quatrefoils, is still in almost its pristine beauty.

The most striking feature of the manor house is part of the great tower, which Wingfield’s old historian, Thomas Blore, has completely omitted in his engraving. Though not of any great height, the aspect of this towering sentinel is imposing.

The apartments which once sheltered Mary Queen of Scots are indeed in a sad state of ruinous decay. Nothing remains but the outer walls, with the fireplaces and chimneys, the former with nodding heads and the latter with, apparently, a serious spinal complaint. The walls themselves are scored by many a huge and gaping wound, not the wounds of honour received in battle, but the wounds caused by the horrid disease of decay unchecked and unheeded. It is sad to think that the first part of the hitherto unbroken line of wall round this courtyard to succumb to this fell disease will be the most interesting portion of this historic house.

The kitchens, which lie between the Queen’s rooms and the banqueting hall, are likewise in a sad state; the depressed form of arch surmounting most of the doorways, despite the presence of “arches of construction,” are fast bowing their heads beneath the weight of masonry and the neglect of centuries. Adjoining the servants’ quarters and the banqueting hall are the state apartments, lighted by a huge and by no means beautiful window of Perpendicular times, if judged by the standard of excellence obtaining elsewhere in the fabric. A curious feature noticeable from the courtyard is the fact that this window, like the little gem of a round one above and the traceried lights below, is far from being central in the gable or in line with its neighbours above and below.

The undercroft, more often known as the crypt—an ecclesiastical term possessing no right here—is of the same dimensions as the hall above. The ceiling is composed of beautifully wrought stone groins, with large circular bosses, cut with fine traceried designs; the springing of the arches is from the walls on either side and the five stone pillars in the centre respectively. This subterranean chamber has now begun to show most unmistakable signs of the gross neglect which so characterizes the remainder of the house, for the stone ribs of the vaulting have fallen over the eastern entrance—and there they lie. The entrances to this undercroft are four in number—one at the north-west corner, one at the south-west, one at the south-east, and one in the centre of the east end. Three of them communicate directly with the banqueting hall above, whilst the fourth opens into the open air. This cellar-like room has been described as the chapel, and also as the retainers’ hall, but the general opinion of those whose opinion is worthy of consideration is that it was a general store house for the huge retinue of owner, guests, and prisoner; such was no doubt its use, but what the intentions of its builders were is quite another question.

The inner courtyard with which I have just dealt is far better preserved than its southern neighbour, which seems to have proved a better mark for Gell’s big guns and Halton’s destructive genius than the other. The entrance gate to the inner court is fairly well preserved, but the greater part of the rest is in but a sorry plight. The great entrance on the east is shorn of its upper storey, but the adjoining barn is in a delightful state of repair, and is of a nature to arouse the enthusiasm of students of our mediæval barns.

On the east side of the house were the old gardens, now presenting a dismal appearance, for the sole surviving signs of the topiary work of our forefathers are the broken ranks of a long line of stunted yew trees; even these trees have not been spared of late years, and the woodman’s axe has been responsible for considerable gaps. On this side, too, remain traces of the old earthworks thrown up by the Royalist garrison to repel the besiegers on this, the most weakly of the naturally strong defences formed by the slope of the hill. In the farmhouse reposes a collection of old cannon balls rescued from the ruins, methods of destruction far preferable to the stealthy creeping action of the prince of destroying agents—Unchecked Decay—now so busy there.

Let us hope, however, that before it is too late a helping hand may lay its healing touch on these walls which crown the slope, a spot noiseless save for the thousand and one sounds of the neighbouring farmyard, and that distant and discordant triumph of modernity, the railway, which, thanks to the situation of the manor house on its hill, finds no near approach.

BRADSHAW AND THE BRADSHAWES

By C. E. B. Bowles, M.A.

Chapel-en-le-frith, a little old-fashioned town in the heart of the Peak, is fairly encompassed by a range of hills, one of the loftiest of which, rising, indeed, to a height of 1,225 feet, is Eccles Pike. About a mile and a half from the town, and on the southern slope of this hill, which towers above it, safeguarding it from the cold blasts of the north wind, stands the old homestead of the Derbyshire Bradshawes. Built in the more peaceful times of the first Stuart King, Bradshaw Hall is to-day a substantial witness to the fact that, unlike our Georgian ancestors, they who lived in the time when James the First was King were like ourselves—most appreciative of a home commanding a wide expanse of land and sky, and yet beneath the friendly shelter of a hill.

The hall is girt on all sides by the lands which have formed part of the domain for many centuries. Many of them, too, are known to-day by the same names which have distinguished the various enclosures through nearly all that time. The ground immediately below the hall on its southern side was the old pleasance, and bears traces of having been originally terraced. Here were the gardens and orchards, the latter certainly in existence as early as 1542, being mentioned in a lease[40] bearing date 20th April, 33 Henry VIII. Below them was the Home Croft, a seven-acred field now called the Hall Meadow. The view from these old pleasure grounds must have been very striking, extending as it does right away to the Combs Moss and Valley, and looking towards the Black Edge.

[40] _Derbyshire Archæological Journal_, vol. xxv., p. 59.

In the present day the view is certainly much enhanced by a large sheet of water—the reservoir which supplies the Peak Forest Canal, for it has all the appearance of a natural lake. About half an acre of this water covers land which originally formed part of the Bradshaw domain.

On the east side of the hall lies a field known by the name of Hob Hollin, at the back of which is the Hob Marsh. These are bounded on the east by a field called “Little Park” and a pasture named “The Greavy Croft.” This latter field was in ancient times a wood, probably planted to protect the hall from the east winds. This is evident from an old lease, dated “The assumption of our Lady in the 18 year of King Edward IV. (15 Aug., 1478),” in which the description of the lands which fell under it makes a special exception of “a wode calde ye Greyve Crofte.”[41]

[41] _Derbyshire Archæological Journal_, vol. xxiv., p. 40.

Below the hall meadow lies the “Hollow Meadow,” the subject of a long protracted dispute as to its ownership which ended in a law suit in the year 1500. All these fields, with others lying above the hall, are mentioned by name in a division of lands between William Bradshawe and his nephew Richard for farming purposes, which is dated 20th April, 33 Henry VIII. (1542). The name Hollow Meadow, however, occurs in a deed far earlier than this—being mentioned in a charter dated 6 Edward III. (1332), where it is called “Holu-medue.” To the south of this field lie some twenty-two acres of pasture, which are known by the name of “The Turncrofts.” This land, probably originally “Town Crofts,” has been so called as far back as 1398, when a grant of “seven acres of land lying in Turncroft was made by John, son of John de Bradshawe, senr., to William, son of John de Bradshawe, junr.” It is dated at Chapel-en-le-Frith the Monday after the feast of St. James, 21 Rich. II.

In more than one deed there is evidence that at one time a dwelling-house and farm buildings stood on this ground, and it then formed a separate farm. For instance, William Redfern and Emmot, his wife, were, on the 4th of October, 1458, granted a lease for ten years of the Turncrofts, and later on, namely, from 1537 to 1543, Henry Bradshawe and his wife Elizabeth were living there as tenants of their nephew Richard, the then head of the family.

A long line of grass fields now extend along the side of the road as far as the outskirts of Chapel-en-le-Frith. The larger portion of these fields are to this day known by the name of “The Broad Marshes,” and by this name they are referred to in deeds as early as 1429, at which date a conveyance of land called Bradmersh was made by John Bradshawe, of Bradshaw, to Wm. Bradshaw for trust purposes. In 1444, and again in 1457, leases of “The Bradmersh lands” are granted by Wm. Bradshawe, of Bradshaw, to Roger Cooper, subject to an annuity already settled on his mother Joyce.

That the Bradshawes have owned the lands now held by their lineal descendant and representative from the times of the early Plantagenet kings is proved by the deeds which have descended to him with the lands. How long the homestead has occupied the identical site where the present hall now stands cannot be ascertained. That this is not the first residence of the Bradshawes erected there is certain, and it is more than probable that they have never lived very far away from that identical spot. The first Bradshaw residence of which there is any documentary evidence must have been built about the years from 1215 to 1221. This is the period covered by an Assart Roll in the Record Office, on which is recorded, among other interesting transactions connected with the forest laws and customs, the various grants made by King John and his son Henry III. of land in the forest of the High Peak. It contains much information with respect to the ancestors of many well-known North Derbyshire families. Among those to whom leave was granted by the King for the erection of a dwelling-house are several members of the Bradshawe family. From these it is not an easy matter to select for certain the immediate ancestor of the man who owned the land and built the house on Eccles Pike. A deed of grant has descended from his Bradshawe ancestors to the writer of this article dated at Chapel-en-le-Frith 6 Edward III. (1332), in which “Richard, son of John de Bradschawe, granted to John de Bradschawe, my father, and to Mary, his wife my mother, certain lands in Bowden.” Of these one portion is described as being in Wytehaln feld, and another, called Perts’ Acre, as situated near the Holumedue, which latter piece of land there is not much doubt is identical with the Hollow Meadow. The mention of the Wytehaln feld, or Whitehall field, in the deed would suggest—as an ancestor to the above John—one Richard, son of William de Bradshawe, who about the time of 19 Henry III. (1235), made an addition to the land in Whitehall[42] which his father William had assarted at some previous time. This is the more probable, because there has always been a tendency to preserve Christian names in a family. But more than one Bradshawe had grants at this date for the clearance of the forest land in Whitehall. Ivo de Bradshawe and Walter de Bradshaw both held land “in capite” of King John and his son Henry III.

[42] Whitehall and Whitehough adjoin, and are about a mile from Bradshaw.

This Walter—son of another Walter de Bradshawe—and one Randolph de Bradshawe, both built a house in Bowden, a part of Chapel-en-le-Frith, in which a portion of the Bradshaw lands are situated to this day. Thus it is quite possible that one of these houses is the original Bradshaw Hall.

The Heralds’ Visitation begins the pedigree with a John de Bradshawe, possibly son of Richard Bradshawe of the deed of 1332, who by his marriage with Cicely, daughter of Thomas Foljambe, was father of William, evidently identical with the William, son of John de Bradshawe, junr., before mentioned, on whom the seven acres of Turncroft were settled in 1398. The lease, however, of 1457, cited before, proves that the Christian name of William’s mother was Joyce. Either she was his stepmother or, as is quite possible, a generation was omitted by the heralds, and the man who married Cicely was the John de Bradshawe, senr., of the 1398 settlement. His son, then, either by her or by a former marriage, would be John de Bradshawe, junr., the husband of Joyce, and the father of William. Cicely must have outlived her husband, for there is evidence that she was in enjoyment of an annuity, from which the estates were released on her death in 1408, for on the 6th of May, 9 Henry IV., John de Bradshawe settled on certain trustees “all the lands in the Ville of Bauden which lately descended to me in right of heirship after the death of Cicely Foljamb.” It will be observed that her maiden name is used. This was not unusual in legal documents of a certain date.

In 1429 John de Bradshawe executed two entail deeds, by which “Two messuages and 40 acres of land, lying in Bradshaw and Turncroft, in the Township of Bowden, were settled on his eldest son William and his heirs male, and in default of male issue on his other sons, John, Robert, and Henry, in tail male.” The other deed entails the Lightbirch Estate on his second son, John, and his brothers, in tail male. The eventual sale of the Lightbirch Estate to Reynold Legh, of Blackbroke, near Chapel-en-le-Frith, was the cause of the dispute about the Hollow Meadow previously alluded to. It originated in a statement made by Reynold Legh that the “Holle Medow,” or Hollow Meadow, was attached to the Lightbirch Estate when sold to him. The first step to disprove this of which there is any evidence was taken on the 2nd of August, 1483, when Nicholas Dickson, parson of Claxbe, co. Leicester, obtained the depositions of William Bradshawe of Bradshaw, on his death-bed. He most solemnly declared that the “Hoole Medow had never formed part of the Lightbirch Estate, and had not been given to his brother John by his father with the Lightbirch lands.” But not until fifteen years later was it apparently found necessary to take the evidence of John Bradshawe, the owner and vendor of the Lightbirch Estate. Possibly during that time Reynold Legh had remained quiet. Then, however, we gather from an original MS. in the writer’s possession that John Bradshawe made a statement before witnesses to the effect that his father, John Bradshawe, had in his own house at Lichfield denied that the land in dispute had ever been owned or sold by him, but that Reynold Legh had endeavoured ineffectually on three separate occasions to obtain an admission from him that it had been included in the Lightbirch Estate, first, by sending a servant with a document for him to sign, then by coming himself, on which occasion he became so pressing that he had found it necessary to leave him and to refuse to speak again with him on the matter, and finally by requesting Thomas Auby, who happened to be at Blackbroke on other business, to go to Lichfield and endeavour to obtain the admission he had himself failed in obtaining.

The next step was taken on the 28th of August following, when Henry Bradshawe, who as his father’s son and heir had been in possession of the estates, including the land in dispute, since the year 1483, obtained a warrant against Reynold Legh to answer for a trespass “upon a meadow in Bowden called Holmedowe,” which was followed by an order made to the Sheriff, May 1st, 1499, at the instance of Reynold Legh himself, to summon a jury to try the case. The jury, which was composed of men well known in the county, such as Peter Pole and John Gell, of Hopton, decided in favour of Henry Bradshawe of Bradshaw, who was thenceforward left as undisputed owner of the field, which is in the possession of his descendant to-day. Five years before William Bradshawe’s death, his son Henry had been practically master at Bradshaw, probably because his father had become conscious of the infirmities of age, for he must have been exceedingly old when he was troubled on his death-bed, in 1483, with the dispute about the Hollow Meadow. A lease had been executed by Wm. Bradshaw,[43] which seems to have been in lieu of a will, letting for twenty-one years to his son “Hare,” “his place calde ye Bradsha, and all ye lade and meydo [land and meadow] with ye apurtenances logyg yereto [belonging thereto], except a wode calde ye Greyve Crofte,” but in making arrangements for the maintenance of his widow, he stipulates that “unless it plesse her bettur to be in any odr plase, ye seyde Hare shall fynde and suffyshundeley kepe his Modr at things to hyr necessare to hyr degre.” He also arranges for his son to relieve him of the worry of paying the King’s taxes in the words, “and ye seyde Hare to pey ye Kyge his dute for ye whole lynelode” [income]. He also gives to “ye seyde Hare all his stuffe of Howsholde, wit all things of his yt longus to husbodry” [that belongs to husbandry]. This curious lease is dated at Chapel-in-ye-Frythe, 18 Edward IV. (1478). William’s wife was Elizabeth, a member of the family of Kyrke, of Whitehough, near Chapel-en-le-Frith[44].

[43] _Derbyshire Archæological Journal_, vol. xxiv., p. 42.

[44] In possession of the writer; printed in full in _Derbyshire Archæological Journal_, vol. xxv., p. 58.

Henry appears to have been their only son, and probably lived with his parents at Bradshaw Hall. He died in 1523, and his will, made two years before, is a curiously worded one, with quaint spelling. Having satisfied his conscience with regard to the Church, and dealt with the two farms in his occupation, the testator proceeds:—

“I beqweyth to my wyff Elizabeyth to hyr dowary & joyntre a mesne place off land callyd ye Tornecrofts w^t all the aportenās, and all ye Bradmarchys w^t the aportenās unto the end of hyr lyffe & afft^r to ye performacyon off my Wyll y^t ys to Wytt unto my too sonnes Wyllm & Henry unto y^e tyme that Rych^d Bradsha son off John Bradsha cum to ye age off xxi - zeres ffully.”

At the close of the will, the testator mentions John as his eldest son at that time deceased. Richard therefore was legally the heir to the estates, and, as a minor, was left under the guardianship of his two uncles. Henry then expresses the desire that:

“my wyffe & my sayd sonnes kepe to scole the sayd Rych: unto he come to ye age of xxi yeres fully yff he will, & mey be att theyr kepyng & yf noo I wyll y^t my wyffe & my sayd sonnes Wyllam & Henre gyffe to y^e sayyd Rych Bradsha xl^s off gud money yerely to hys ffynding unto ye tyme y^t Rych Bradsha cum to y^e age of xxi yeres.”

His two sons, William and Henry, and his daughter, Margaret, have their fair share of his estate, and he beseeches

“Sir Godfrey Foljamb of Walton Knt & Sir George Savage off y^e Spetyll parson to be y^e Ouersears off thys sympull testamett & last Wyll & to be gode maysturs to my wyffe & too my sonnes ffor Goddes sake & trew preyars ffor them qwycke & ded.”

Henry Bradshawe’s wife Elizabeth was one of the daughters of Robert Eyre, the second son of William Eyre, of North Lees, near Hathersage. His deceased eldest son, John Bradshawe, had married, according to _Lincolnshire Pedigrees_,[45] Isabella, daughter of Peter Ashton, of Halmear Grange, in Spalding, co. Lincoln. Both he and his wife had apparently died leaving only one child, Richard, who could have been little more than ten years of age when, in 1523, his grandfather’s death placed him as heir to the estates, under the guardianship of his two uncles.

[45] _Harl. Society_, vol. iv., page 1139.

Possibly Richard was not easy of control, and did not remain at school sufficiently long to learn wisdom, for before he could have arrived at the age of thirty he had come to grief, and his possessions had all passed into the hands of his uncle William, who was thus the progenitor of the future Bradshawes of Bradshaw.

Various circumstances, however, lead to the supposition that for some time after he had attained his majority, which must have been about the year 1534, Richard had his home at Bradshaw Hall with his uncle Henry, who was, without doubt, living there with Elizabeth, his wife, as tenant up to the year 1541. Before this event, however, the foolish lad had entered upon the extravagant and downward career which ultimately led to his ruin and to his banishment from the old home and lands. His frequent appeals to his uncle William for money resulted in, first a mortgage, and finally, in December, 1542, the absolute sale of his interests in the whole of the Bradshaw domain to his uncle William, of Marple, co. Chester. One of the sums of money sent to him by his uncle was the result of a most piteous appeal, which ends thus: “For I have no money bott off you, nor I cannot boro non but of you, nor I wyll not, and therefore I prey you to be good to me of thys.” In an exceedingly neat and educated handwriting are the few words written in the spare space below Richard’s letter complying with the request, and signed “Wylliam Bradsha.” After the 20th October, 1547, the date of a sale of an annuity by him to a man at Stockport, nothing is known of Richard Bradshawe except that by his wife, Katherine, daughter of Elys Staveley, of Redseats, near Castleton, he left a son, Thomas, described in 1582 as of Swindels, co. Chester.

William Bradshawe thus became possessed of the Bradshawe estates. He is described as of Marple, co. Cheshire, as early as February, 1534, and as late as November, 1549. The first deed in which he is described as of Bradshaw is dated 15th July, 1547.

It is doubtful, however, whether he ever altogether abandoned Marple, as his second son, Henry, appears to have succeeded him there. He must have died about the year 1561, for the first mention of his wife, Margaret, as a widow is in a deed concerning her dower, which is dated 2nd February, 1562. She was a daughter of Christopher Clayton, of Strindes Hall, near Marple, co. Chester.

As the three eldest of their children were born before the times of parish registers, it has been most helpful to discover among the family deeds a long slip of parchment endorsed: “The sevrall ages of Wm. Bradshawe’s children.” The information, which is in Latin, and in a legal handwriting, is as follows:—

Birth of Godfrey Bradshawe, 29th September, the second hour after noon, A.D. 1531.

Birth of Elizabeth Bradshawe, 24th August, in the morning, A.D. 1533.

Birth of Henry Bradshawe, 6th September, the eighth hour before noon, A.D. 1535.

Birth of Margaret Bradshawe, 10th July, the third hour after noon, A.D. 1539.

Birth of Francis Bradshawe, 14th June, the sixth hour after noon, A.D. 1543.

Birth of Anthony Bradshawe, 3rd February, the ninth hour after noon, A.D. 1545.

Birth of Francis, son of Godfrey Bradshawe, 17th February, the eighth hour after noon, A.D. 1555.

Of these children Godfrey, as the eldest son, inherited the Bradshawe estates, as will be presently seen. Henry, the second son, eventually purchased the Marple Hall estate, where he had been bred, and most probably born. He founded the family of Bradshawe, of Marple Hall, co. Chester, now represented by Mr. Bradshawe Isherwood; but he is especially noted for being the grandfather of John Bradshawe, President of the High Court of Justice which tried and sentenced King Charles I. to the scaffold. President Bradshawe, the second son of Henry, the elder of the two sons of Henry Bradshawe, of Marple, was born at Wybersley in December, 1602. Against the entry of his baptism in the Stockport registers for the 10th of that month, some loyalist has written the word “traitor.” He was called to the bar in 1627, and was a member of Gray’s Inn. In 1640 he was appointed Judge of the Sheriff’s Court in Guildhall, London, and Serjeant-at-Law in 1648. When the House of Commons had decided on the trial of the King, they appointed a Court of Commissioners, the presidency of which was offered to John Bradshawe. It is only fair to say that he earnestly pleaded to be excused, though it is possible that this hesitancy may have been due to the undoubted danger attached to the position, which he was apparently aware of if we are to judge by the broad brimmed hat[46] which he wore during the trial, still preserved at Oxford, for it is lined with plated steel as a protection against personal violence.

[46] _Annals of Hyde_, by Thos. Middleton, p. 237.

The High Court began their work on the 20th January. The first few days were entirely occupied by a lengthy dispute between the King and John Bradshawe concerning the authority of the Court, which, as King, Charles naturally refused to acknowledge. On the 29th of January, however, the death warrant was signed, to which the signature of John Bradshawe stands first as president. He did not live to witness the Restoration, for he died 31st October, 1659, and was buried with great pomp in Westminster Abbey. His body was, however, exhumed with those of Cromwell and Ireton, and all three were hung and buried at Tyburn.

President at the Trial of King Charles I., 1649.]

John Bradshawe seems to have kept up friendly relations with his Derbyshire kinsmen. His signature appears in more than one of the deeds connected with family arrangements, and he acted as one of the overseers to the will of George Bradshawe, of Eyam, the High Sheriff’s brother, made 17th June, 1646.

Anthony Bradshawe the youngest son of William Bradshawe, of Bradshaw, is perhaps better known than his brothers by reason of his quaint monument in Duffield church, a photograph of which illustrates this article. He was born on February 3rd, 1545; was educated at Oxford, where he took his B.A. degree 3rd April, 1566;[47] and entered as a student of the Inner Temple 25th May, 1573. He made his home, however, in Duffield, where he lived in a house called Farley’s Hall. He owned the Duffield mill, and lands in Duffield and Holbrook, and other places in the neighbourhood. He was the author of various interesting articles, which prove that not only was he an adept in his vocation as a barrister, but also was an industrious and intelligent student of the history of his own county. He wrote a most remarkable poem of fifty-four stanzas, giving an interesting account of Duffield and Duffield Frith. It is published at length in the _Reliquary_.[48] All his MSS. were specially left to his son Jacynth, but with the exception of that on his own family, of which a literal transcript is given, they have all mysteriously disappeared. Some of them found their way, many years ago, into the possession of Mr. Barber, of Smalley. Extracts from these are quoted by Rev. C. Kerry, late rector of Upper Stondon, in the article on the “History of Peak Forest” which he contributed to the _Journal of the Derbyshire Archæological Society_ in 1893.[49]

[47] Forster’s _Alumni Oxonienses_.

[48] Vol. xxiii., p. 69.

[49] Vol. xv., p. 67.

One of these MSS., a great portion of which has been there transcribed, supplies most curious and interesting information concerning the customs and duties of the officers of the forest of the High Peak. Other MSS. had been published ten years before by Mr. Kerry for the _Reliquary_.[50] One of these contains “the Account of a Conference” held between himself and a distinguished visitor, “W. N., a Sowthern gent att the howse of the said A. B., called ffarley’s House, in Duffield, in the County of Derby,” on 1st May, 1603.

[50] Vol. xxiii., p. 137.

It begins thus:—

“W. N of C in the Countie of Suffolk gent an auntient Scholar and Companion of the said A B above 40 yeres past in the vniversitie of Oxford (there p’ceding graduats togeather) & afterwords dyvers yeres fealow student by practique w^{th} the said A B in the Inn^r Temple London ... tooke paynes to repose himself for a few daies w^{th} the said A B att his house aforesaid whenne he went to Buxton Well & so to Bradshaugh Hall in Bradshaugh Edge a little there begyled where the said A B was born & his auncestors whither the said A B verie willinglie accompanyed him & the better occasioned to visit his brother & friends there ...

“W. N. And what is that w^{ch} you call Bradshaugh Edge wherein your brother now dwelleth

“A. B. Sr I take that to be a c^rten part of the p’ishe of Chapell de le ffryth w^{ch} the King of England in time past gave vnto one of my Auncestors for s^rvice done as p’tly appereth in some evidences of my brothers w^{ch} are without date afore the conquest of England and I fynd that that p’ish conteyneth three Edges vidlet Bradshaugh Edge Bowdon Edge and Cambis Edge and that so the said Edge called the Bradshaugh Edge conteyneth Ashford p’te of the said p’ishe and was all graunted to my auncestors though my former auncestors were of like vnthriftee and have in tymes past sold away most of the same, and so my brother hath but a small remaynd^r therein And touchinge the Armes of the said house of Bradshaughe I will not take upon me to blaze the same leaving itt to the Heralds for avoyding of offence but the crest is the Buck in his naturell couller vnder the hawthorne tree browsing or rompant.”

With regard to the office he held, and his work as a barrister-at-law, his remarks—greatly abbreviated and modernised in spelling—are as follows:—

“Being in 38 Elizabeth Regina by the Hon^{ble} Gilbert Earl of Shrewsbury her Majestys High Steward of the Honor of Tutbury charged trusted & deputed to be understeward there and also having spent above 30 years time partly in the Inner Temple and partly in the C^t of the Com:n Pleas at Westminster where I also practised above 30 years as Attorney.... For the better instructing of my sons and clerks which I employed under me in that office I ... collected certain little books ... concerning my Service doing in the said courts as namely one little book of such points & learning of the Forest lawes as I supposed to be convenient,” etc.

Among other benefactions to the place in which he had chosen to reside, he founded an almshouse. He alludes to it in these words:—

“Onlie this I ympose & devyse & hope ytt will not offend that where I have erected a litel Almeshouse for harbouring of a ffew poore ffolks in y^e towne of Duffeld aforesaid (as the pore widow offered her myte) & have established for the same poore but thirtie shillings yerely to buy them some symple cloth for coates: I say I have ordered the auntient of the same poore for the tyme being shall keep the kay of the box wherein the same book of Regist^r shall lye in my said house” ...

In the indenture, which he says he intends to leave within his will, he alludes to it thus:—

“I have often ment & prposed & in my litle monument standing in the Church of Duffield abovesaid do shew that I wuld p’vyde to allow an hospithall or litle almeshouse in the towne of Duffeld w^{th} certen allowance for harbouring of ffour poore p’sons widows or others to contynue in man^r & forme in my last will & testem^t declared or to be sett downe or referred and haue now devysed by my last will and testament, God willing, my Tenemt in Derby in Full Streete there now or late occupied by one Thomas Wright And my cotage and garden to y^{tt} adjoyning and belonging in Duffeld abovesaid.... Therefore now ... my desyre & intent is that that my heires & all myne & there heres posteritie to whom the said Tenem^t & rents & cotage shall descend or come by vertue of my said will shall for eu^r & from tyme to tyme hereafter elect allow and admytt ffour poore p’sons of Duffeld viz^t two aged or ympotent men and two like women widows or others of honest behavior to be harboured lodged & dwell in my said hospitall or almsehouse & to use the said garden therew^{th} for and during the lyves & lyfe of any such poore p^rsons ev^ry one of them paying only a godspeny a^{tt} there seu^ral admissions to my said heires,” etc.

The document ends with the rules to be observed by the occupants of the almshouse regarding their language and their attendance at church, where they were to sit “att the backe of my pewe,” which pew, as well as his monument, they were to dust and keep clean. The “monument” referred to here is in the church, and in good preservation. The “almshouses,” which stood in the Town Street between “Duffield Hall and the road, were pulled down in 1804,” says Dr. Cox in his work on _Derbyshire Churches_, and he remarks: “They were most improperly bought of the parish in 1804 by Mrs. Bonnell, of the Hall, for £120, and pulled down, in order to enlarge the grounds.” Quoting a letter written to Mr. Lysons in 1816 he adds: “The annexed lines are inscribed on a stone now making part of the fence in Bonell’s pleasure grounds at Duffield, but formerly placed in front of Bradshaw’s almshouses, which I have heard stood near the same spot, but is now entirely erased.”

“B ehold Lord of Life this myte I restore
R endering thanks unto thee for all that we have
A nd this little Harbour I leave for the poore
D evised to lodge four who else may alms crave
S hure trust I repose & myne I exhort
H enceforth this Hospital as it needs to renew
A llowing such things as my will doth purport
W e meane & pray God for ay to continew
G od grant that others more able than I
H ereafter may better pore people supply.”

Anthony Bradshaw’s monument to himself, his two wives, and twenty children, was erected in 1600; he did not die until 1614, having had in the meantime three additional children. It stands against the east wall of the north transept of Duffield church, and is in a fair state of preservation. At the top of the monument is the Bradshaw coat—_arg._, two bendlets between as many martlets, _sab._, surmounted by the crest of a hart standing under a vine bough. Across the centre of the monument, between the inscription proper and the acrostic, are the small incised effigies (half length) of himself, his wives, and children distinguished by their respective initials. The following are the inscriptions:—

“Parvū monumentū An^{ij} Bradshawgh interioris templi L. generos. (quarti filü W^i Br. de Bradshawgh in hoc comitatu Derb. gent.) nup. coron, ac subvic. com. ejusd. Ac etiam uni. atturn. cur. de banco apud Westmr necuon dep. slli totius feodi de Duffield Hic qui dnas hūit uxores & xx^{ti} liberos subscript. quibus et pro quibus (inter multa) ut sequitur oravit et [~p]cepit, Ac postea p’ult. volun. ac. testm. sua in scriptis remanem unam [~p]vam domum cum gardino sumtu suo proprio in Duffeld hic conditam pro hosp. quatuor pauperum istius ville (per heredes suos de tempore in tempus eligend. et locand.) inter alia volvit et legavit ac devisavit cum allocaoñ in dcō testō mancōnatis impp̄m continuand. ac per heredes suos manutend. modo et forma in eodem testō limitat, et content. et sic obüt hicque sepelit’ ... die ... A^o Jesu X̄r Salutis suæ....

“Griseld Blackwall (daughter & Heire of Richard Blackwall of Blackwall in this county of Derby Gent. & of Anne sister of Thomas Sutton of Over Haddon Esq.) was his first Wief by whom he had 4 sonnes W^m Fra Exupie. & John. W^{ch} Richard was one of the cozeyns & heires of Mr. Boyfield of Barford in the countie of Northton Esq.

“Elizabeth the daughter of Richard Hawghton was his second wyfe by whom he had xvj children, viz. Jacincth, Antonie, Michaell, Elizabeth, Felix, Quyntin, Petronilla, Athanasia, Isadora, Mildrede, Brandona, Erasmus, Josephe, Millicent, Cassandra, Vicesim.

“Quorum cuique A. Br. dixit viz.

“Deum tunc Regem honora ac parentes cognatos cole magistratos metue maiore cede minori parce prox̄mum dilige sicut teipu et cum boni ambula.

“Dum fueris fœlix, multos numerabis amisos, tempora si fuerint nubila solus eris. Ergo sic utere tuo ut alieno ne indigens, ac semper intende [~p]. Dē. [~p]cede et regna.”

Nam.

A s God dyd give this man,
N o small charge as you see,
T o trayne them he began,
H ere ech in there degree,
O ft wishing them such grace,
N o future course to take,
I njurious to there race,
E Is end of lief to make.

B less them oh Lord with peace,
R esist there adverse fates,
A lways them well increase,
D efendyng them from hates,
S uch lyvelode to them gyve,
H ere whylest on earth they bee,
A s they may love & lyve,
W ee praye O God q^{th} He.
G.
H.

A. {Different tyme I wishe thee But put thy hous in order} B.
{Q^{th} he which here doth lye For surely thou shalt dye}
#/

It is of some interest to print for the first time a quaint Bradshaw pedigree, which is an exact copy of one in my own possession, in the handwriting of Anthony Bradshaw; it was too much worn to permit of reproduction in facsimile.

Several of his twenty-three children settled in the neighbourhood, not only at Duffield, but at Makeney, Idridgehay, and Belper, and the Duffield registers[51] record their existence during the whole of the seventeenth century.

[51] _Reliquary_, vol. xxiii., p. 134.

Vicesimus, the last of the children recorded on the monument, was baptized 10th March, 1600, and married Ellen, daughter and heiress of Richard Fletcher, of Makeney. Their descendants intermarried with various local families, and one of them married Thos. Ward, curate of Duffield, early in 1800. Peregrine, born in 1602, after the monument had been erected, was perhaps one of the best known to the world at large of this big family. He settled in London, and later on was of Wymondham, and acted as page to Anne of Denmark, wife of James I., and afterwards as “Esquire to the body of King Charles I.”[52]

[52] _Lincolnshire Pedigrees_, _Harl. Society_, p. 109.

Anthony Bradshawe died 1614. His will was proved on the 3rd May in that year. He leaves legacies to “Francis Bradshawghe, of Bradshawghe, Peter and Henry Bradshawghe,” and a ring is left to John Curzon, of Kedleston, who was father of the first baronet, and ancestor to the present Lord Scarsdale. Jacynth is the fortunate inheritor of his signet ring, furniture, books, and MSS.

Com. Derby { Will̄m Bradshawghe of Bradshawghe in the County aforesaid
ffebr. 1610. { gent (who and his Ancestors have beene lawfull and right
{ Inheritors and owners thereof by antient desent ever
{ synce afore the Conquest whiche auntient evidences thereof
{ doe shew) maryd Margret the daughter of M^r Cleyton of
{ Stryndes hall in Cheshire, by whome hee had yssue
{ liueinge—

G1. Godfrey his eldest sonne maryed to Em daughter to Anthony Shalcrosse of Shalcrosse in the said County Esq^r by whome hee had yssue ffrancis Leuon^rd Godfrey Peeter & Henerie and divers daughters whose names and matches are here und^r mencioned

H2. Henerie maried to Dorotha daughter of Xpofer Baghau of the townhed in y^e Chapell of ffryth gent by whome hee had ishew one sonne Henerie and oy^r daughters by dyu^r venters Elizabeth maryed to

F3. Francis maried to Mary the sister of Juxe Esq^r servante to the late Queene Elizabeth by whome he had issue ffrancis and other Children now dwelling att Wakesay by Charleton in the County of Willtesh^r purchased by the said ffrancis the father

A4. Anthony who had two wyves the first Grisild daughter and heire of Richard Blackwall of Blackwall of Derbysh^r gent^l Inheritor of the third pt of Barford in (now sold to M^r Lane there) w^{ch} Richard had to wife Anne the sister of Tho. Sutton of Ou^rhaddon in the said County of Derby Esq^r (whose widow John Bently aft^r maried) by whiche Grisild the said Anthony had 4 sonnes viz Willm ffrancis John (w^{ch} three dyed all younge w^{th}out issue). And Exuperie who maried Ann one of the daughters of Lysle of Maxhill in the County of Warr Esq^r by the daughter of Repington of Annyngton in the same Countie Esq^r (whose former husband was one M^r Willughby) whiche Exupie hath not yette any yssue The same Anthony second wife ys Elizabeth the daughter of Richard Haughton of Holbroke in the said County of Derby (decended from Haughton of Haughton tower in the County ofcLanc. Esq^r). By which Elizabeth the same Anthony had Ninteene Children viz Nyne Sonnes viz Jacquth, Erasimus, Joseph, Vicesimus & Peregrine yet liveing, Antony, Quintin, Micaell & Candidus deceased, tenn daughters viz Elizabeth, ffelix, Petronilla (modo nuta Marco Jackson in Com. Leic. gent) also Atanasca, Mildred, Brandona, Milicent, Casandria, Penultima yet liueing, and Isodora deceased

E5. Elizabeth mared to John Bagshaw of Bradshawgh Esq^r gent, who had ysue one sonne Nicolas & daughters Marie, maried to M^r Rawlison of gate by

f1. The said francis the eldest sonne of the same Godfrey the father Maried Anne one of the four daughters and co-heiress of Humph of Eyam in the said County Esq^r (by whome he had Eyam hall and those Lands in that partition). And Roland Eyre of Hassoppe in the same County Esq^r maried another of the same daughters. And Mr. Savage of Castleton in the same County maried the third of the same daughters and Mr. M----wood of Stadon in the same County maried the fourth of the same daughters and coheirs of the same M^r Stafford

H3 Henerey the sonne hee maried one of the daughters and heires of Wynyngton gent. (with whome hee had certaine Lands in Alfreton) in the pish of Stokport in Cheshire by whome hee had yssue Ralfe This Henery purchased dyu^rs Land in Marple and ellswhere

A3. Besides some other Lands to him decended This Anthony purchased ffayrles and ffayrles hall and certaine other lands in Dufeild and in Derbysh^r from the said Dorothee, Anne Derby and erected a little Almshouse in the towne of Dufeild, and his little Monument his other Sister and being married to owne in Dufeild Chirch Thornell there

Previous Next

Comments

Memorials of old DerbyshireChapter VII: Part 7

0%36 min left in chapter