Memorials of old Derbyshire

by Unknown

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.

Bradshawe Hall.

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.

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]

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.

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].

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.

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.

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.

John Bradshawe, Serjeant-at-Law.
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]

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.

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.”

Duffield Church: Monument of Anthony Bradshawe.

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 Wⁱ 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,	B	less them oh Lord with peace,
N	o small charge as you see,	R	esist there adverse fates,
T	o trayne them he began,	A	lways them well increase,
H	ere ech in there degree,	D	efendyng them from hates,
O	ft wishing them such grace,	S	uch lyvelode to them gyve,
N	o future course to take,	H	ere whylest on earth they bee,
I	njurious to there race,	A	s they may love & lyve,
E	Is end of lief to make.	W	ee praye O God qth He.
		G.
		H.
A.{Different tyme I wishe thee {Qth he which here doth lye		But put thy hous in order} B 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.

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]

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—
1 2 3 4 5 6
---------+---------+---------+----------+-----------+-----------
Godfrey | Henerie | Francis | Anthony | Elizabeth | Margret
G1 | H2 | F3 | A4 | E5 | maried to
| | | | | Littlewood
---------+----+----+---------+ +-----------+
francis | Henerey |
f1 | H3 |
+--------------+----------------------------------
| Anthony
| A3
--------------+-------------------------------------------------
| The same ffrancis the sonne had |
| yssue by the said Anne his |
| wife diu^rs sonnes and daughters |
| here under menconed viz |

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

ffrancis Bradshawgh being nowe 1610 of the Inr Temple London, and Counsellor of the Law Esq now maried to Barbary one of the daughters of Sr John Davenport of Davenport in the County of Chester Esqr (unto which ffrancis, the manor of Abney, by Eham, decended or was devised, from and by Godfrey Bradshawgh his unckle who [dyed wthout yssue
did purchase the same Manor and dyed wthou issue
And the said [Leonard] ffrancis the father had other sonnes viz Humphrey, Roland, George, and Peeter (and diuers daughters hereunder also mentioned) by the said Anne
And the said Godfrey the eldest, haueing as aforesaid, other youngr sonnes, Lenrd, Godfrey, Peeter, and Henery as first abovesaid the same Henery the youngest brother dyed also younge and wthout yssue
And the said Leonrd the second sonne of the said Godfrey the eldest hath yssue Leonrd, Peeter and Mary yet livenge
And the said Peeter the third sonne of the said Godfrey the eldest maried with one of the daughters of Mr Johnson of the redd Crosse in Wattlinge streete Citizen and Merchant Tayler of London, by whome he hath nowe two sonnes viz Edward and yett liveing, god blesse them
The said Godfrey the ffather had also diurs daughters viz Amye who dyed unmaried
Marie who maried one Smith of Lincolnshr, by whome hee had a sonne who now is a vintner & keepeth the three tonnes att Yeald hall gate in London
Hellen maried to one Martin Ashe of Ashgate in Brampton nere Chesterfeild by whome hee hath diuers children

The same ffrancis the ffather also had diuers daughters, viz

Endorsed. Anthony Bradshawes Pedigree in his handwriting.)

Godfrey, the eldest son of William Bradshawe, of Bradshaw, was born 29th September, 1531, and began his experiences of the troubles of life very early. At what date he married Margaret, daughter of Roger Howe, of Ashop, is not recorded; but as early as 1550, when only 19, he and his wife are quarrelling like the children they undoubtedly were, and after ineffectual attempts “to cause them to continue lovingly together as man and wife,” their respective parents took the necessary legal proceedings to separate them so that each might be enabled to marry again. The old MSS. connected with this part of Godfrey’s life are very curious reading, as they arrange for the partition of the household goods, and even to the return to Margaret’s parents of the clothes provided for a possible nursery. After the divorce, Godfrey did not go far afield for a second wife. He married Emma, the daughter of Anthony Shawcross, of Shawcross, quite a near neighbour. In 1568 serious troubles arose[53] in consequence of his having enclosed a portion of his land at Chinley, not two miles distant from Bradshaw. His action was highly resented by the inhabitants, who pulled his fences down, burnt a house, and

“assembling themselfs together in great companies at the Towne of Hayfield w^th unlawfull weapons that is to saye w^th bowes pytche fforks clobbes staves swords & daggers drawen Ryotously dyd then & there assaulte & p’sue the sayd Godfrey & Edward Bradshawe.”

On another occasion certain people

“on foote & Raulphe Mellour upon his horse backe ryotouslye followed the sayd Edward Bradshawe & Godfrey Bradshawe the space of one quarter of a myle from the sayd towne of Heyfield & w^th drawen weapons had ryotouslye like to have slayne & murthered the sayd Godfrey & Edward.... At another tyme by nyght ... the sayd p^rcell of grounde beinge newlye enclosed agayn by the sayd Godfrye by ther consents beinge quicksetts w^th xliii hundreth quicksetts willowes & willowe stacks they dyd pull downe the same agayne,” etc., etc.

The disturbances were eventually quelled, and the rioters tried in the Court of the Star Chamber.

On the 10th April, 1570, Godfrey executed a deed of entail of Bradshawe on himself for life, with remainder to Francis, his eldest son, and then to Leonard, Godfrey, Peter, and Henry, his other four sons, in tail male, in default to his three brothers, Henry, of Marple, Francis, and Anthony. In a list of the principal landowners in the High Peak for 1570 appear the names of Godfrey Bradshawe, of Bradshaw, and of his wife’s brother, Leonard Shallcrosse, of Shalcross.[54]

Godfrey died early in the year 1607, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Francis, who was married when quite a child to Anne, one of the four daughters and co-heiresses of Humphry Stafford, of Eyam. Indeed, he was not much more than nine years old according to the register of his birth, for the 4th May, 1565, appears to have been the day on which he was married. The Staffords had been settled at Eyam certainly as far back as the reign of King John, at which time their lands were held “by hereditary right for the free service of finding one lamp burning before the altar of St. Helen in the church at Eyam throughout the year during divine service.”[55]

The possessions to be divided among the four daughters appear to have been very considerable. In 1568 a deed was executed to enable Francis Bradshawe and Anne, his wife, peaceably to enjoy a fourth part of the lands lately the inheritance of Humphry Stafford. This consisted of much of the ancient domain of the Staffords actually in Eyam, with the Old Hall, and included lands in the vicinity at Monyash, Chelmorton, and other places, as well as the whole of the townships of Bretton and Foolow. No evidence exists as to the destiny of the two children for some years after their marriage. Ten years later, however, they were apparently living in the Old Hall at Eyam, and on the 8th of January, 1576, a settlement of the hall and lands at Eyam was executed on the young couple, and upon their eldest son. The deed must have been drawn up either before or immediately after his birth, for a space has been left blank throughout the original deed for the Christian name of “their son and heir.” The Manor of Abney, which marched with his wife’s estates, was bought in October, 1593. It adjoins Bretton and Foolow, which are townships in the ecclesiastical parish of Eyam.

There is no evidence that Francis Bradshawe ever lived in Bradshaw Hall, which devolved on him on the death of his father, Godfrey, in 1607. Only three years elapsed between this event and his eldest son’s marriage, and in all probability the Hall had no permanent tenant until after it had been rebuilt. At any rate there is little doubt that Francis Bradshawe, the elder, as he is generally styled, lived on at Eyam Hall, where his chief interests lay, until his death, of which date there is no record. After the year 1615,[56] when he qualified as a magistrate for the county, nothing is known about him. His wife died before the 18th December, 1606, the date of a settlement of “money which rightly belonged to the said Francis in right of Anne, his late wife.” Francis, the eldest son of their very large family, succeeded him. The first date of which there is any evidence of his being in possession of the estates is 10th June, 1619, when he executed a deed entailing them on his heirs male. This same year, too, evidently marked the completion of the rebuilding of the Hall, for a stone is still in existence inscribed F.B., B.B., 1619, which most probably formed the centre-piece over the doorway in the entrance porch, now demolished. His wife was Barbara, daughter of Sir John Davenport, of Davenport, co. Chester. In his marriage settlements, bearing the date of 1610, he is described as barrister-at-law of the Inner Temple. Possibly he made London and Eyam Hall his headquarters till the completion of the hall, which work may well have begun soon after his grandfather’s death in 1607, when it was probably assigned to him as a future residence. It is fairly certain that the present hall was the first stone-built residence of the Bradshawes, for the following reason. After the civil wars of Stephen’s reign, it was found necessary to forbid such substantial residences to be built without permission from the King. Timber, therefore, was the principal material used for ordinary buildings, and only in the time of the Tudor Sovereigns did the long established custom of ignoring the stone of the district begin to die out. The half-timbered houses still so prevalent in Cheshire are scarce in our own county, but 300 years ago they were probably common enough, and as a contrast to the stone walls must have added considerably to the beauty of the Peak country. Such a house, therefore, we may well imagine the original Bradshaw Hall to have been, standing in a conspicuous place on the slope of Eccles Pike.

In the time of Henry VIII., however, the ancient custom of allowing the smoke to find its own way out through a hole in the tiling, which was called the “louvre,” began to be discontinued, and stone-built chimneys were then added outside the timber house for the sake of safety. Mr. Gunson, in his article on Bradshaw Hall,[57] says:—

This chimney contained a broad archway opening into the room in which the log fire was kindled. This seems to have been the case at Bradshaw, for on the line of what was formerly the outside wall of the hall is still standing a great stone chimney stack. That it was the chimney to the ancient Hall, and is the oldest portion of the present building, there can be but little doubt, for it plays no part in the later design. Moreover, a portion of the top where the plaster ‘parging’ of its flue can still be seen has been taken down to allow the main timbers of the present roof to pass over its head; it has been filled in and its archway beneath built up. When the architect designed the later building he found that this old stack fell into line with his plan and served as a support for the great staircase which he built around it.”

No doubt it was the presence of this huge and apparently useless block of masonry, running the whole height of the house, which gave rise to the generally accepted notion that Bradshaw Hall possessed a secret chamber or “priest hole.” This legend is adopted by Mr. Allan Fea, who remarks in his interesting book on Secret Chambers and Hiding Places: “Bradshaw Hall has or had a concealed chamber high up in the wall of a room on the ground floor, which was capable of holding three persons.” Of course, tradition says “the wicked judge was hidden here.” The actual place here described is a modern cupboard, which has not been in existence a century as yet!

One other remnant of the old house remains in the present structure. To use Mr. Gunson’s words:

“The staircase is supported on bearing timbers made of principals from the old high-pitched roof, in which the mortices and oak pins still disclose their previous use and design; these, after serving their original purpose for generations, were yet sound enough to be used to sustain the heavy staircase—a remarkable testimony to the quality of the oak selected for such purposes some six centuries ago, and still apparently as good as ever.”

The interior of the house some sixty or seventy years ago was somewhat altered to meet the requirements of two families of farm tenants; but as originally built, it contained the dining-hall—which was also the usual living room of the family—out of this opened the withdrawing room. These two rooms occupied the whole of one wing, and were accessible from the main entrance through a vestibule or small hall, lighted by a quaint little window on the right, and entirely shut off from the big staircase. The dining-hall was a spacious room, lighted by a pair of four-light windows, now converted into modern sash lights.

“Above, to support the floor of the upper storey are massive oak beams about 16 ins. deep by 14 ins. wide. On the left is a very fine segmental arch over the entrance to the staircase; it has a span of 4 ft., and its depth from front to back is 4 ft. 1 in., being deeply splayed on the outer side. Altogether the design is striking, and if the old window lighting the staircase behind it were but opened out, the effect would be distinctly quaint and picturesque.”

Another archway leads to the kitchen, and at the top of the hall was the original great fireplace and a door, which led into the withdrawing room. The same kind of beams cross the ceiling of this room, though in a different direction to those of the hall, and it is lighted by similar windows. All the rooms at Bradshaw are exceptionally lofty, and the windows, which have not been tampered with,

“are beautifully proportioned examples of the plain mullioned and transomed type. An especial feature of Bradshaw is that all the door jambs have been splayed off. The direction always follows the line of general traffic, and the idea evidently was to cut off the corners, and especially in the case of the kitchens, no doubt to facilitate the carriage of the heavily laden trenchers to the dining hall.”

The kitchen and offices formed the other wing.

“The massive staircase is about 4 ft. in width, and consists of solid oak steps; it is supported by the ancient chimney stack, and opens into a small landing on the first floor, from which access is given to various bedrooms, and through them to others. This landing, which was originally lighted by the usual four-light window, now partially built up, has a remarkable ceiling, cornice, and frieze, in plaster work. Around the latter in raised letters is the following verse:—

LOVE GOD BVT NOT GOLD. A MAN

WITHOVT MERCY OF MERCY SHALL

MISS BVT HE SHALL HAVE MERCY

THAT MERCYFVL IS.”

An inventory[58] of the contents of the hall, taken after the death of Francis Bradshawe gives us not only an idea of the contents of the mansion house of a gentleman of that period, but it also furnishes us with the names of the various rooms. Among them is mentioned “The Gallerie, the Gallerie Chamber, and the Clocke Chamber.” The contents of his own bedroom are as follows:

“One bedstedd w^th curtaines and Vallancies and all other Furniture, a Truckle Bedd and Fether bedd thereon Two tables one Standinge Cupboard Three Chaires two plaine Chaires Nyne Joynt Stooles two little ones a Close Stoole six Tables and Cupboard Cloathes. Two Skreenes, a Lookeing Glasse Three Brushes a p^r of Snuffers Firepan and Tongs.”

Over the kitchen a fine example of an oak panelled room still remains in good condition. The contents of the cellars are described in the inventory as “one greate tuninge vessel and 3 lesser vessells and twentie barrells.” These big cellars have apparently been filled in and flagged over, for in spite of the legend that they still exist, it has been found impossible to discover their position. Of the outbuildings, the big cow house still remains, of the same date as the hall, with windows of a similar design.

The principal entrance to the hall, with its porch, now removed, originally faced Eccles Pike, over which ran an ancient highway, and connected with this was an old bridle road leading to the stone-built arch which was the main gateway. This is still in admirable condition, and beyond the fact that there are indications that originally the archway was enclosed with double gates, which are not now in existence, it is much as it left the builders’ hands. Over it, on the side facing the hill, is a shield bearing a coat of arms, as follows: “Argent two bendlets between two martlets sable” for Bradshawe. Impaling “or a chevron gules between three martlets sable” for Stafford. Above the shield is the Bradshawe crest, “A stag at gaze proper under a Vine Tree fruited proper.”

This coat bears the impress of the work of an amateur, as Francis Bradshawe could only have impaled the Davenport arms as borne by his wife’s family, while he had the right to bear the Stafford arms quarterly with his own, because his mother was an heiress. Had his father built the archway, as some writers have suggested, the Stafford coat would have been borne over the Bradshawe shield on a “Scutcheon of pretence.”

On the reverse side of the archway is the inscription, “Francis Bradshawe, 1620,” below which is a shield bearing the curious device, apparently heraldic, of a thorn between six nails. It has puzzled several students of heraldry. The suggestion was made a few years ago, which is almost certainly the correct one, that it is no heraldic achievement, but “a rebus” on the name Bradshawe:

“viz six nailes for the plural ‘Brads’ a species of nail, and the thorn for the old English Haw hence Brads-haw, that the scroll of foliage surrounding the shield may be a spray of barberry, the whole being in honour of Barbara Bradshawe, whose name would thus appropriately follow that of her husband as her initials did upon the stone of the previous year.”

Bradshawe Hall: Detail of Gateway.

A feature of the walling round Bradshaw is its heavy double coping. The building of the archway and stone fence would not have been built till after “the bulky traffic necessary during the building operations no longer prohibited a restricted approach.” This would account for the date of the gateway being a year later than that of the hall. Here, then, Francis Bradshawe and his wife took up their abode, in the old home rebuilt and modernized according to the fashion of the times. In the year 1630–1 he served the office of High Sheriff for the county, succeeding Sir John Stanhope, of Elvaston. The accounts connected with his shrievalty were kept with scrupulous care. They were published in the Archæological Journal for 1904, and are very quaint reading. The board and lodging of the two judges on circuit, for all the officials connected with the Court of Assize, and for the prisoners awaiting their trial, as well as the expense entailed by the execution and burial of those condemned to be hanged, are all included. Contrary to the custom of the present day, the grand jury were fed at the High Sheriff’s expense, and a band was provided to entertain them. Among his personal expenses we read that £11 6s. was paid for lace, £1 3s. 10d. for twenty-six long buttons, 19s. for two dozen “silke and gould buttons and a neeke button,” £30 for twenty-six hatbands, 10s. for his boots, £2 3s. 4d. for his saddle, 11s. 8d. for the fringe, and £1 3s. 10d. for the “silver boole,” which may have been his buckle, but might possibly have been a bowl to be used as a loving cup. At Kirk Ireton he is charged for the hire of a horse, as well as for the keep of the one he left behind, which item suggests the probability that in riding his own horse, as would have been most likely, all the way from Bradshaw to Derby, he had been obliged to change horses on the road, and Kirk Ireton, being on his line of route in travelling by the old but now disused road from Bakewell, he had elected to make the exchange there. During this year he had the misfortune to lose his wife. The entry of her death in the parish registers of Chapel-en-le-Frith for the year 1631 is as follows: “Barbara, the wife of Francis Bradshawe, of Bradshaw, High Sheriff for this Countie this yeare, was buried in the chancell the xviiijth day.” On the 31st of July, 1632, he married as his second wife Lettice Clarke, widow, described in the Chapel-en-le-Frith register as “step-daughter to Sir Harvey Bagott, Knt.” She was the eldest daughter of Sir Thomas Dilke, of Maxstoke Castle, co. Warwick. After his death she married, as her third husband, Sir John Pate, Bart. Francis Bradshawe died 25th March, 1635, and was buried with his wife on the 27th. His will, made about a month after his second marriage, left two-thirds of his residue to his brother George, his successor in the family estates, and one-third to his widow. She appears to have made Bradshaw her residence till about the year 1637, at which date Bradshaw Hall was apparently occupied by a Mr. Thomas Wigstone; at any rate, he is described as of Bradshaw in the register of the baptism of his daughter Lettice in the October of that year. He may have been a friend or relation, but Nicholas Lomas, who, according to the register, died at Bradshaw in 1640, would certainly have been a tenant. Francis Bradshawe was the last member of the family to reside at Bradshaw; notwithstanding the large amount of money that had been expended on the hall only fifteen years before.

George Bradshawe, his brother and successor, lived throughout his married life at Eyam; the old Hall, the home of the Staffords, his mother’s ancestors, having been entirely rebuilt for him. He was buried in Eyam Church, 25th June, 1646. His widow lived on at Eyam until she and her only unmarried daughter were driven away by the plague, which was raging in that village during the years 1665 and 1666. Francis, the eldest son, who inherited all the Bradshaw estates, had married in 1652 Elizabeth Vesey, a Yorkshire heiress, and he elected to live in his wife’s ancestral home at Brampton, co. York, and there did all the future Bradshawes, of Bradshaw, live, forsaking the old home and county. Francis Bradshawe died at Brampton, 21st December, 1659, leaving two sons. Francis, the elder, who succeeded to the estates but died unmarried in 1677, left all his estates to his brother, John Bradshawe. Living as his father had done in the old hall at Brampton, John Bradshawe allowed strangers to continue to rent Bradshaw Hall. In 1660, during the minority of his brother, the hall had been let to Edward Ash and Thomas Wright, and he himself let it to John Lowe in 1693. In 1717 John Bradshawe was High Sheriff for the County of Derby, but he died where he had lived, at Brampton, co. York, in November, 1726, leaving by his wife Dorothy, daughter of Anthony Eyre, of Rampton, co. Notts, a son, George, and a daughter, Elizabeth. George Bradshawe succeeded to the Bradshawe estates, but dying childless in 1735, the estates devolved on his sister’s son as heir-at-law and from him the present representative of the family is descended.

It is a curious coincidence that the last official act of George, the last Bradshawe, of Bradshaw, of which there is any evidence, was, only three months before his death, to execute a lease, dated 13th September, 1735, for eleven years to Robert Lowe and John Jackson of the old hall of his ancestors, in which document it is described as “all that capital messuage with the appurtenances lying and being in the parish of Chapel-en-le-Frith, commonly called or known by the name of Bradshaw Hall.”