Memorials of old Derbyshire

by Unknown

“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