(C. Pl.)
BEDE, CUTHBERT, the pen-name of Edward Bradley (1827-1889), English author, who was born at Kidderminster on the 25th of March 1827. He entered University College, Durham, in 1845, and later studied at Oxford, where he made the acquaintance of J.G. Wood, the naturalist. He took holy orders, and eventually became rector of Stretton in Rutlandshire. Here he gained a reputation as a humorist and numbered among his friends Cruikshank, Frank Smedley, Mark Lemon and Albert Smith. He wrote for various magazines and, in the pages of the Illustrated London News, introduced the double acrostic. He is chiefly known as the author of The Adventures of Mr Verdant Green, an Oxford Freshman (1853), which he also illustrated and of which a third part appeared in 1856. Several well-known Oxford characters of the time are depicted in its pages, such as Dr Plumptre the vice-chancellor, Dr Bliss the registrar, and the waiter at the Mitre. The book abounds in innocent fun. In 1883 he was given the living of Lenton, or Lavington, Lincolnshire, where he died on the 12th of December 1889.
BEDELL, WILLIAM (1571-1642), Anglican divine, was born at Black Notley in Essex, in 1571. He was educated at Cambridge, became fellow of Emmanuel in 1593, and took orders. In 1607 he was appointed chaplain to Sir H. Wotton, then English ambassador at Venice, where he remained for four years, acquiring a great reputation as a scholar and theologian. He translated the Book of Common Prayer into Italian, and was on terms of closest friendship with the reformer, Sarpi (Fra Paolo). In 1616 he was appointed to the rectory of Horningsheath (near to Bury St Edmunds, where he had previously laboured), which he held for twelve years. In 1627 he became provost of Trinity College, Dublin, and, in 1629, bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh. He set himself to reform the abuses of his diocese, encouraged the use of the Irish language, and personally undertook the duties generally discharged by the bishop’s lay chancellor. In 1633 he resigned his see. In 1641, when the Protestants were being massacred, Bedell’s house was not only left untouched, but became the place of refuge for many fugitives. In the end, however, the rebels insisted upon the dismissal of all who had taken shelter in his house, and on the bishop’s refusal he was seized and imprisoned with some others in the ruined castle of Loughboughter. Here he was detained for several weeks, and when released, rapidly sank from the effects of exposure, and died on the 7th of February 1642.
His life was written by Bishop Gilbert Burnet in 1685, and also by his elder son (ed. T.W. Jones, for the Camden Society, 1872).
BEDESMAN, or Beadsman (Med. Eng. bede, prayer, from O. Eng. biddan, to pray; literally “a man of prayer”), generally a pensioner or almsman whose duty it was to pray for his benefactor. In Scotland there were public almsmen supported by the king and expected in return to pray for his welfare and that of the state. These men wore long blue gowns with a pewter badge on the right arm, and were nicknamed Blue Gowns. Their number corresponded to the king’s years, an extra one being added each royal birthday. They were privileged to ask alms throughout Scotland. On the king’s birthday each bedesman received a new blue gown, a loaf, a bottle of ale, and a leathern purse containing a penny for every year of the king’s life. On the pewter badge which they wore were their name and the words “pass and repass,” which authorized them to ask alms. In 1833 the appointment of bedesmen was stopped. In 1863 the last payment was paid to a bedesman. In consequence of its use in this general sense of pensioner, “bedesman” was long used in English as equivalent to “servant.” The word had a special sense as the name for those almsmen attached to cathedral and other churches, whose duty it was to pray for the souls of deceased benefactors. A relic of pre-Reformation times, these old men still figure in the accounts of English cathedrals.
BEDFORD, EARLS AND DUKES OF. The present English title of duke of Bedford comes from a line of earls and dukes in the Russell family. In January 1550 John, Baron Russell, was created earl of Bedford, and in May 1694 his descendant, William, the 5th earl, became duke of Bedford. The Russell line is dealt with in the later part of this article. The title of duke of Bedford had, however, been previously held, notably by the third son of Henry IV.; and the earlier creations may first be considered here.