EVERY-DAY LIFE OF A COUNTRY GENTLEMAN OF CHESHIRE IN THE 17t h CENTURY: AS SHEWN IN THE PRIVATE EXPENDITURE JOURNAL OF COLONEL HENRY BRADSHAW, OF MARPLE AND WYBERSLEIGH. By A. Craig Gibson, F.S.A. (R ead 8th J anuary, 1863.) A m o n g s t the letters and other documents relating to, or written by, the Lord President Bradshaw which, last session,* I had the honour of bringing under the notice of this society, were included a few, especially connected with the elder brother of that dignitary, Colonel Henry Bradshaw, of Marple Hall and Wybersleigli, in the parish of Stockport and county of Chester. Of these the most important, as well as the most interest­ ing, is Colonel Bradshaw’s Journal of Expenditure, extending over more than seven years, namely, from the beginning of 1637 to the middle of 1644. The little volume in question has probably contained the diary of more years than these originally, for it exhibits signs of having been considerably mutilated ; and it is to an examination and analysis of what remains that our attention, on the present occasion, will be mainly directed. It may add to the interest of such examin­ ation to take first a glance at the career of the gentleman who has thus incidentally left to us so minute and suggestive a record of his daily life; for though it does not, like an ordinary diary, directly chronicle events, the entry of every sum ex­ • Vol. II, N.S., p. 41. 68 pended, even the smallest, and the reason for, or object of, all such expenditure, however trivial in amount or purpose, throws very considerable light upon the mode of life and pursuits of country gentlemen of limited means in the diarist’s station, period and county. TheBradshaws of Marple are said, by most authorities, to have been a branch of the ancient family of Bradshaw of Bradshaw in Lancashire; however this may be, there were also Bradshaws of Bradshaw in Derbyshire, from whom the subject of this notice was more immediately descended,* his great grandfather having been the head of the Derbyshire house, and his grandfather having purchased Marple Hall and lands at Marple and Wyber- sleigh of Sir Edward Stanley, of Thong. It would appear that, at the period of this acquisition, the Cheshire Bradshaws were not recognised as holding squir ear chic al rank amongst the always proud landed gentry of their county ; for in the deed of conveyance (existing in 1817) the purchaser of Marple Hall is styled “ Henry Bradshawe, yeoman.” The son of this yeoman, so called, resided at Wybersleigli Hall, “ an ancient “ habitation no way remarkable,” which either was not at that time, or subsequently ceased to be, the property of the family; as, according to a marriage contract preserved at Marple at the time already named, and dated 30th September 6 Car. (1630), that messuage was acquired by the third Henry Bradshaw through his marriage with Mary, daughter of Barnard Wells of Hope, County of Derby; and he resided there till his father’s death in 1654, when he removed to Marple Hall, the family seat. By this his first wife, Colonel Henry Bradshaw had a son, also named Henry who, after his father’s death, acquired by purchase Bradshaw Hall, near Bolton, the seat of the Lancashire Bradshaws. He had also a daughter, Katharine, whose name is given incorrectly by Ormerod as Anne. Of this inaccuracy there is ample proof. * Ormerod’s Cheshire. 69 Amongst these papers is a letter from Bradshaw’s brother- in-law, Robert Eyre, which, as bearing upon his family history, I transcribe. Sir, I heave sent you a true coppie of my late mother Wells her will, and of all I know concerning it. I desire yo1 excuse, for had not ye yn some other urgent buysiness taken off my man from coppieing it you had received it before now7. I hope yr selfe and my syster your lady are in good health. My wyfe p’sents her due respects to you both and soe dothe yr truely loveing brother, R obert E y re. High Low, March 2d., 1657. Then follows a postscript anticipating Bradshaw’^dissatis­ faction with his mother-in-law’s distribution of her property—■ Sir, if any difference shall liapne to any amongst us, for want of any true understanding one another, at any of yr conveniences I shall be very ready to give you and yov children satisfaction, and to deale uprightly at sight of yoreelt and any wyse, contionable gentleman. This I thought fitt to intimate that all misthoughts may be prevented if possible, and all reall affections preserved. Y8 R. E. Addressed “ for his ever honored brother^ Henry Bradshaw, Esq., at Marple theis,” and endorsed in Bradshaw’s hand, “ My mother Wells’ pretended will is here enclosed.” The copy of Mrs. Wells’s will, so enclosed, is also pre­ served, and is curious from the number of religious reflections and allusions to points of doctrine of a Calvinistic character introduced into it, indicating that the testatrix belonged to the then dominant party. She bequeaths to her “ sonne- “ in-law, Henry Bradshaw, the some of twenty pounds, and to “ Anne, his now wife the some of ffive poundsand, farther 70 down, unto her “ grandchild, Mr. Henry Bradshaw, the some “ of twenty poundsand again, after one or two other bequests, “ unto Katherine Bradshaw my grandchild the “ some of one hundred pounds.” This legacy is annulled in a codicil, on the ground that it has been paid during the lifetime of the testratrix. The document is endorsed by Henry Bradshaw thus—“ 5 ° Mali, 57. The inclosed is s’d “ to be a true copy of the last will of my mother Wells : dated “ the 18th day of 9ber, 1656. Togithir also with a codicill, “ s’d to be hers, and dated 22d Januarii, 1657.” It is, there­ fore, evident that Mr. Eyre’s fears were not groundless. These two, Henry and Katharine, were probably all the children Colonel Bradshaw had by his first wife, though he had a large family by his second, a daughter of George Sowdos^f Bowdon. Wsre further proof required of Ormerod’s error as to the name of this eldest daughter, it may be found in the diary, where payments for articles of attire, books, board, education &c., for Kat and for Harrie are frequent entries. The rest of his eleven children were, probably, at the date of the diary, either unborn or too young to require special outlay. After leading the quiet life of a country gentleman of small income for upwards of forty years, for his age went with that of the Centura:, Henry Bradshaw became an active participator in the disturbed political affairs of his time. In the earlier years of his journal we find entries of payments of “ ship- “ money,” “ my share of the contribution to Ireland,” “ for “ peticion to the parliament,” “ for my share of subsidies” &c.; while in its later records we find disbursements for military accoutrements, ammunition, matches &c., with allowances of money and of drink to “ my souldiers,” gratuities to the guard or sentries at different parts of his neighbourhood, pay­ ment of messengers to Sir W. B. (Sir William Brereton) and many other indications that the hitherto quiet tenor of his 71 life was broken never to be restored, as it turned out, so long as he lived. We have, with these papers, a curious relic of the early part of his military career, styled—“ The Accompt “ of Major Henry Bradshaw,” and stating that “ Hee was capt “ of a company of foote souldiers in the regiment of Colonell “ Rob4 Ducltenfield, in actuall service for the Parliament from “ the 13th day of May 1643 to the tenth day of March the “ same yeare,* beinge 301 dayes. “ Hee was Seijeant Maior to the foresaid regiment from the “ sayd tenth of March (by vertue of a Comission from the “late fferdinando Lord ffairfax) vntill the third day of “ ffebruary 1645, being 695 dayes and was in both ,these “ comaunds in actuall service. £ 8. d. “ And towards pay due for the same hath recd “ from Sr Will. Brereton or by his ordr out “ of the 12000£ ordred for Cheshire the sume “ of ..................................................................... 42 0 0 “ from and by order of his Colonell............... 2 10 0 “ And lest any mistake should happen though “ hee knoweth of none, hee is content to cast in 5 10 0 ■ “ Totall recd..................... 50 00 00 “ 4 0 Decembr, 1649. “ (Signed) H e n * B e a d s h a w e . “ These Accompts delived upon “ oath before vs, “E dmund Sw etengam , “ Charles W h ich co te, “J ohn M illin g to n . “ The truth of this Accompt is vpon oath vouched, “ Sig. W il l . H . H igginbothom , “ W illiam S ydbothom.” * The year beginning in March. From this statement it would appear that, whatever might be the inducement to serve in the Parliamentarian army, it could hardly be the amount of pay, for wxe see that an officer of good family was satisfied with the pittance of £l>0 for nearly three years of active service—more than two thirds of the time as major, the remainder as captain. After leaving Dukinfield’s regiment he for some time held the commission of lieutenant-colonel in Ashton’s regiment of foot. He after­ wards, with the rank of colonel, commanded the Macclesfield militia, at the head of which he was wounded in the battle of Worcester, the crowning disaster to the royal cause.