BRIDGMAN, SIR ORLANDO, BART.
Arms.—Sa., ten plates, four, three, two, and one; on a chief arg., a lion passant erm. Bridgman.
Crest.—A demi lion rampant arg., holding between the paws a garland of laurel ppr.
[Lauri. Antiquae urbis Splendor. Romae, 1612.]
Sir Orlando Bridgman (born 1606 (?), died 1674) was a distinguished lawyer and legal author. He was the son of John Bridgman, Bishop of Chester, and a Fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge.
In 1640 Bridgman was elected Member of Parliament for Wigan and was Knighted. By submitting to Cromwell he escaped the penalties of being a Royalist, and made himself of much importance as a lawyer during the Commonwealth. At the Restoration Sir Orlando was received into Royal favour in consideration of his former loyalty, and was given a Baronetcy and made Chief Baron of the Exchequer. In 1660 he was made Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and in 1667 Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. On occasions he acted as Speaker in the House of Lords. Towards the end of his life he fell into some sort of disfavour, and lived in retirement at Teddington.
