| Notes |
- His eight children with second wife Elizabeth should all have birthdates later than first child William. Many duplicates that do not show under “research help”.
Biography
Robert Bradford, son of Peter, resided in the parish of Tickhill, York, England, when he made his will. His birth has been estimated to be about 1487.
He married twice. His first wife's name is totally unknown. She was the great grandmother of "Mayflower" Gov. William Bradford. His second wife was Elizabeth. Elizabeth and Robert's son, Robert, proved his will. She may be the Elizabeth Bradforth who was buried at Tickhill 21 Oct 1556.
Robert was mentioned in the 1533 will of his uncle William Bradforde of Bentley. He was perhaps the Robert Bradforthe, supervisor of the 1541 will of John Bradforthe of Almholme, in Arksey, his brother. Robert's father, Peter, bequeathed to him in this 1542/3 will "13s 4d. [sic, ? £6.13s.4d.]" and gave to each of Robert's children, Robert, Thomas and John, a ewe lamb.
He died between the date of his will, 28 Nov 1552, and the probate date 5 Oct 1553. Robert will directed his burial in the churchyard of Tickhill. Bequests were made to his son William Bradforth and William's daughter Alice, his son (the testator) Robert Bradforth, his sons Richard, John, Peter, Thomas and Hugh, his daughter Katheryne, and to each of her four children, Lancelot, William, Robert and Ursulay, to his daughter Alice's daughter Anne. He made his wife Elizabeth and son Robert risiduary legatees and executors, and named Peter Bradforth of Bentley, his brother and John Jennynge of Arksey, probably his nephew, as supervisors.
Child by first wife:
1.) William, of Austerfield, co. York, who was grandfather of Gov. William Bradford.
Children by wife Elizabeth:
1.) Robert, testator of 1578
2.) Richard, probably dead by 12 Feb 1557/8 since he was not mentioned in the wills of other family members
3.) John living 12 Feb 1557/8 but probably dead by 19 Apr 1578 (not mentioned in brother Robert's will
4.) Peter, probably the Peter Bradforth buried at Tickhill 4 Jul 1557
5.) Thomas testator of 1605
6.) Hugh, probably dead by 12 Feb 1557/8 since he was not mentioned in the wills of other family members
7.) Katheryne, probably dead by 12 Feb 1557/8 since he was not mentioned in the wills of other family members. She probably married John Ogden and had children Lancelot, William, Robert, Ursala, and Richard.
8.) Alice living 19 Apr 1578; married and had a daughter Anne and two or three other children.
A GENEALOGY. OF THE BRADFORD FAMILY.
BY G. M. FESSENDEN,
[Member of the R. I. Historical Society, and of the N. England Historic, Genealogical Society.] [ARMS.-The Right Reverend Father in God, SAMUEL BRADFORD, Lord Bishop of Rochester, and Dean of Westminster, bears two Coats Impaled, viz.: Argent, on a Saltire Gules, an Escalop Or, being the Armes of his Episcopal See; conjoyned with his paternal Coat, viz: Argent, on a Fesse Sable, three Stag's Heads eras'd, Or."*
The Lords and Earls of the name of Bradford were of the familes of Newport and Bridgeman, and hence have no connection with our subject; their titles being derived from the earldom and lordship of Bradford.
BRADFORD (Cheshire and Devonshire) Sable a cross engrailed argent. (Yorkshire) Argent a wolf's head erased between three buglehorns sable. Crest-a peacock's head ppr, in the mouth a snake, entwined round the neck, vert.-GEN. SIR THOMAS BRADFORD, G. C. B.† same Arms and Crest as the last. Motto - Fier et sage.- (Yorkshire) Argent a chevron between three buglehorns sable.- (Another, same Co.) Argent on a fesse sable three stag's heads erased (another, couped) or.-(Wiltshire) same Arms. Crest A stag's head erased, or.- [The following are given, but as belonging to no particular county.]- Ar. on a fesse sa. three stag's (another, goats') heads erased or.- Or, on a fesse sa. three goat's heads erased of the field.- Ar. three buglehorns sa. stringed or.- Ar. a cross gu. betw. four mullets az.- Gu. a lion ramp. erm.-Ar. a wolf's head erased between three buglehorns sa. in chief an annulet of the last.
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Although Mr. Fessenden had in a clear and lucid manner, and with unwearied labor and perseverance, drawn up the Bradford Genealogy, and finished it about three years ago, yet while it has lain in the Publisher's hands, many important additions have been made to it. Some by the Publisher himself, but for a large amount of excellent material, he is indebted to WILLIAM BRADFORD, ESQ., of Duxbury, himself a lineal descendant of the Pilgrim, who has taken great pains to make the work as complete as possible. It was not always convenient to note our additions, or those of others, but the MSS. of the whole will, with the author's consent, be deposited in the archives of the N. E. H. Gen. Soc., where, if necessary, they may be referred to.
The plan adopted by Gen. Fessenden in drawing up his work, tho perfectly clear, was not accommodated to our pages, mainly for the reason that it required much more space, than the same amount of matter does in the form we give it. Moreover, the additions before mentioned could not be made to it in the author's MS.; therefore, the whole required to be rewritten.
* Guillim's Heraldry, Kent's Edition, 1726.
† Besides this title of G. C. B. (Knight of the Grand Cross of the Bath,) he had that of G. C. H., (Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order.) He was son of the late Thomas Bradford, Esq., of Woodlands, near Doncaster, and of Ashdown Park, Sussex, and brother of LIEUT. COL. SIR HENRY BRADFORD, who died in 1816, from the effects of wounds received at the battle of Waterloo.- Landed Gentry.
+ Burke's General Armory. The above is all he has upon BRADFORD.
Many of the descendants of Gov. Bradford will discover omissions in the work, after all the labor that has been bestowed upon it; we now call upon them, and all others interested, to make their complaints in writing, and in such a tangible shape, that they may serve to perfect the work when we publish the remaining portion of it; otherwise, all errors and omissions of every description will be laid at their own doors. Communications containing information may be addressed to Gen. G. M. Fessenden, Warren, R. I.]
The writer has bestowed upon this Genealogy much time and care; yet, such is the nature of the work, he can hardly expect that it is complete, or even free from error. One point however is attained, namely, that of avoiding the confusion and embarrassment usually to be met with in lengthy genealogical accounts. The arrangement of the names into distinct generations, and the use of numbers, render the descent of each individual obvious and readily traceable.*
Warren, R I., July 1848.
The name of Bradford is derived from the Saxon "Bradenford," or "Broad-ford,"† and is doubtless very ancient. Two towns of considerable size in England, are known by this name; one in Wiltshire, near Bath, the other in Yorkshire, near Leeds. The latter of these, we suppose to have been the locality from whence originated the great founder of the name in the United States.
One of the first martyrs who perished at the stake in "Bloody Queen Mary's" time, was JOHN BRADFORD, prebend of St. Paul's, and a celebrated preacher. He was born at Manchester in Lancashire, about 1510, was committed to prison Aug. 16, 1553, where he remained until his death, a period of nearly two years.
The numerous letters and other compositions, written by him during his imprisonment, are remarkable for their able and uncompromising opposition to the dogmatical requisitions of papacy, and for abounding in depth and fervency of plain personal piety, and expansive religious feeling. He was finally condemned, January 31, 1555, and burnt at Smithfield, on the first day of July following. He perished nobly, praying and exhorting the people while at the stake; his last words were, "Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way," &c.
John Bradford was the intimate friend of Rogers, Hooper, Saunders, Latimer, Cranmer, and Ridley, who about the same time with himself, sealed their opposition to papal bigotry, at the fiery stake. He was never married, but left at his death, a number of near relations.
The early, energetic, and persevering opposition to sacerdotal intolerance exhibited by Gov. Bradford of Plymouth, would seem to indicate him as a
Though, as before remarked, we have been obliged to change the plan adopted by the author, our system is exactly the same, in respect to the regular succession of generations. We endeavored, in following him, that the oldest person in each should come first, but that object is not fully attained. tho' much nearer than had been done by him., It is almost impossible to avoid this irregularity, as it is often discovered that other children belong to the same parents after a generation is considered complete - EDITOR.
Bradford, situated near the Avon. [Co. Wilts,] on the abrupt declivity of a hill, three and a half miles northwest from Salisbury, owes its name to the broad ford of the river. Dugdale.
There is also a Bradford in the Co. of York, thirty-four miles from the City of York.
EDITOR.
Names of individuals were often derived from the names of the places at which they happened to reside; and names thus acquired were transmitted to families. Hence, some individual who resided at some time, at some broad ford of some stream, river or estuary, in due time was called by the name of that locality, Broad Ford and afterwards Bradford as a more convenient word for utterance.- EDITOR.
worthy descendant of the martyr's immediate family; and that he was so, is rendered more probable from the fact, that the town of Bradford in Yorkshire, Manchester, the birth-place of the martyr, and Austerfield, where Gov. Bradford was born thirty-three years after the martyr's death, are all in the north of England, and near each other.*
Another circumstance which may be adduced in proof of the supposition, is this. One of several writers, cotemporaries of the Governor, who at his decease, commemorated the event in poetic effusions, thus writes:
"Now blessed, holy Bradford, a successor
Of blessed, holy Bradford, the confessor,
Is gone to place of rest."†
The following item of History suggests a possible reason, (in addition to the martyr's death,) why Gov. Bradford, in his numerous writings, has refrained from alluding to his own family connections. It occurred within two years of the burning of John Bradford, and is recorded in "Baker's Chronicle."
April 24, 1557, Thomas Stafford, second son of Lord Stafford, with two and thirty persons, (English fugitives, set on by the French King,) came from France with the intention of subverting the government of the detested Queen Mary. They attacked and took Scarborough Castle, in Yorkshire, but were driven out and conquered, within two days, by the Earl of Westmoreland. Stafford was beheaded on Tower Hill, May 28, 1557, and the next day, Bradford and two others of his associates were executed at Tyburn.†
A further reason for the Governor's taciturnity respecting his ancestry, may be found in the fact, that his parents died when he was quite young, and his relations, to whose guardianship he was assigned, strongly opposed his adoption of the religious views of, and connection with, the puritans.
William Bradford, Governor of Plymouth Colony, was born at Austerfield, in Yorkshire, England, in 1588. About 1608 he went to Holland and joined the pilgrims, and came to Plymouth in the Mayflower, in 1620, accompanied by his wife, whose maiden name was Dorothy May. This lady never reached Plymouth, but was accidentally drowned, on the 7th of December, 1620, during the absence of her husband on an examining tour into Massachusetts Bay, and while the Mayflower remained in Cape Cod harbor. She was the first English female who died at Plymouth, and the first whose death is recorded in New England.
Mr. Bradford was chosen Governor in 1621, and was reëlected to that office every year till 1657, except five years-1633, '34, '36, '38, '44. He was one of the most efficient persons in directing and sustaining the new settlement; or, in the words of an ancient writer, he "was the very prop and glory of Plymouth Colony, during all the whole series of changes that passed over it." Aug. 14, 1623, he married widow Alice Southworth, whose maiden name is supposed to have been Carpenter; she came over in the "Ann," and lived, highly respected by the whole community, till the 26th of March, 1670, when she deceased, aged about 80.
Gov. Bradford died on the 9th of May, 1657, "lamented by all the colo
In his last letter to his mother, dated the 24th of June, 1555, he speaks of his brother Roger, to whom and her "he sends all his writings" This letter is printed in Middleton's Evangelical Biog., vol. 1, p. 372-3, where there is a very good account of the martyr. There is also another very good life of him in Wheeler's Hist. of Manchester, but these and all the other authors who have mentioned him. (so far as our examination has extended,) give no account of his pedigree-not even giving us the name of his father.-EDITOR. ↑ Morton's Memorial, 261. [Davis' Edition.]
nies of New England, as a common father to them all." * Both are buried at Plymouth. Gov. Bradford had by his second wife three children: William, Mercy, and Joseph. His auto
graph, 1631-2, is here given.
Villian Bradford
Since the Bradford Genealogy was drawn up, some important facts have been brought to light by the labors of an eminent genealogist in London, the Rev. JOSEPH HUNTER. The result of his discoveries having reached the hands of the Editor, he gladly avails himself of the opportunity of making such extracts from it as are applicable to this work.
After having shown pretty conclusively that our BRADFORD, of the Mayflower, was born at Austerfield, and that the adjacent villages of Bawtry or Bawtrey,† and Scrooby were dwelling places of others of the Pilgrims, and that it was at the latter place that the original church of Plymouth was formed, he goes on with a most interesting discussion concerning BREWSTER, ROBINSON, and others. On returning again to Bradford, he acknowledges himself indebted to Dr. Cotton Mather "for the knowledge we possess of the early life of Bradford." And he finds that the baptismal record at Austerfield confirms Dr. Mather's statement of his age, at the time of his death, namely, 69, on the 9th May, 1657.
"Dr. Mather informs us," writes Mr. Hunter, "that Gov. Bradford was born to some estate; that his parents died when he was young, and that he was brought up by his grandfather and uncles. These statements," he continues, "receive ample support from testamentary and fiscal documents, and from the register, which has been well preserved, of the baptisms, marriages, and burials of the little chapel at Austerfield, which is a member of the parish of Blythe." From these evidences our author has drawn up a genealogical account of the Bradfords of Austerfield, by which we are able to carry back the pedigree of the Pilgrim three generations in England. This pedigree, reduced to our system, is as follows:
NOTE. To save the reader the trouble of referring elsewhere for an explanation of the plan of the following genealogy, he will observe, 1st, that the first column of Arabic figures are intended to number all the posterity contained in the genealogy. 2nd, that the small Arabic figures at the end of every name, placed like an exponent of a power in mathematics, thus, show the number of the generation of such name; for example, (1) II. Gershom, is a descendant of the 6th generation. 3d, the Roman numerals are used only to show the number and order of every family. 4th, as every individual (male) who has descendants, must occupy a new place in the series without breaking its order, the lower numbers, or those interpolated, show at what point in the first column of numbers the children of every individual are given, thus, No. 41 in the regular Arabic series has under it 104; therefore follow the series to that No., (104,) and next after it is given the family of GERSHOм Bradford. Hence, at a glance, it is seen that this individual is the 41st descendant, and of the 6th generation from the first discovered ancestor, and that he is the IId. child of his parents. If no number be interpolated, then no descendants are given, as (9) I. John*, shows John1 to have no descendants.
This system of laying down extensive genealogies has been some time before the public, and, we believe, has met with entire approbation. That it possesses obvious advantages over others hitherto employed, can scarcely admit of question.
It must be remembered that we commence the reckoning of generations with the first progenitor of the name we find in England. Thus Gov. BRADFORD of Plymouth is of the third generation, and not of the first, as it has been usual to make *Mather's Magnalia. EDITOR.
†Bawtrey, a small Hospital: valued at the Dissolution, at £6. 68. 8d. per Ann. - Magna Brit. vi. 663. (Speed, out of Leland.)
Austerfield, as well as Bawtrey was, in the days of Bradford, a royal manor, having been acquired by the crown, by forfeitures or marriages, from the illustrious and well known heir of Nevil and Dispenser. The Bradfords were farmers of the demesne.
the original emigrant, in other pedigrees. Therefore, to know the generation in this country, we have only to subtract two from any descendant of the Governor.
(1) 1. William Bradford lived at Austerfield, in or about 1575, at
which time he and one John Hanson were the only subsidiaries there; Bradford being taxed on twenty shillings land, and Hanson on twenty shillings goods, annual value. The time of his death appears only from a record of his burial, noted as happening on the 10 January, 1595–6. His children were,
(2) 1. William2, m. Alice, dau. of John Hanson, before named, very probably. He was buried on the 15 July, 1591. This William was father of our GOVERNOR BRADFORD, and by his early decease the Plymouth father was left an orphan at the tender age of about two years. (3) II. Thomas, of whom no records appear, saving that he had a dau. Margaret, bapt. 9 March, 1578.
(4) III. Robert, bapt. 25 June, 1561, m. Alice Waingate, 31 January, 1685.
He was the only Bradford subsidiary at Austerfield in 1598; while at the same time and place there were three others, whose names were John Maudson, Robert Martley and Robert Bridges. The will of Robert Bradford was dated 15 April, 1609, and he was buried on the 23 of the same month. Hence this uncle of Gov. BRADFORD died about the third week in April, 1609.
The will of Robert Bradford, remarks Mr. Hunter, "is the best document which we possess from which to form an idea of the status of the Bradfords at Austerfield, at the time when one of them took the important step which has made him and his family just objects of historical curiosity. He describes himself Robert Bradfurth of Austerfield, yeoman,' and we may observe that Bradfurth, or Bradfourth, is the more usual orthography of the name in the church register; so uncertain and variable was the orthography of all proper names at that period; also that, 'yeoman' implies a condition of life a little better than that which would now be indicated by the word. The yeomanry of England in the reign of Elizabeth formed the class next to the acknowledged gentry, the men who used coat-armour of right. They were people who lived, for the most part, on lands of their own."
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Having thus digressed from the will to bring in an important elucidation of his subject, our author returns to it, and goes into its provisions with much minuteness. We must, however, confine ourself to the facts, in a condensed form. To a servant girl, Grace Wade, the free use of a dwelling house; "he names another servant, and his brother and sister Hill." To Thomas Silvester, clerk, a small legacy. To son Robert his best ironbound wain, [probably a cart with two wheels,]"the cupboard in the house," [parlor of those days,] one long table, with a frame and one long form, with his best yoke of oxen; also the counter wherein the evidences are." Also a corselet with its furniture. The residue of his estate to be equally divided among his four children, Robert, Mary, Elizabeth, and Margaret; these were his executors. Being then all under age, he orders them to be under the direction or tuition of three of his friends or neighbors:Robert and Margaret to be under the care of his "good neighbor," Mr. Richardson* of Bawtry; Elizabeth to William Downes † of Scrooby;
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*Next to the Mortons Mr. Richardson was the principal inhabitant at Bawtry, and was afterwards allied to them; both he and Robert Morton, the head of the family, marrying in the family of Lindley of Skegby, one of the visitation families of Nottinghamshire. He had a son, Mr. Lindley Richardson.-Hunter, 48.
† Of this person Mr. Hunter says he knows nothing, saving" that he was a subsidyman at Scrooby."
Mary to Mr. Silvester* of Alkley. Son Robert to have the reversion of two leases; one, of all the king's lands he has in Austerfield, the other of the closes which he has of Mr. Morton in Martin lordship.
"One thing is clear," observes my Pilgrim guide, "that the Bradfords of Austerfield, during the eighteen years that he who was afterwards the Governor of New Plymouth was living with them, associated with the best of the very slender population by whom they were surrounded.” But, "in the next generation they declined. Before 1628, Robert Bradford, cousingerman to the Governor, had sold his lands at Austerfield to Mr. William Vescy, a gentleman of Brampton. In 1630 one Robert Wright, a draper of Doncaster, leaves to him his gray suit of Apparel, and to Richard Bradford his son, one fustian doublet, and one pair of hose: bequests," he continues," which sufficiently indicate the obscurity and poverty into which they had fallen." This may not be a strictly just conclusion, allowing a judgment to be formed from the numerous similar bequests, though not quite contemporaneous, on our side of the Atlantic.
(5) IV. Elizabeth2, bapt. 16 July, 1570, m. James Hill, 20 Jan. 1595. (6?) William Bradford', (2) who m. Alice Hanson, had
(6) I. Margaret3 b. 8 March, 1585, died young.
(7) II. Alice3 b. 30 Oct., 1587.
(8) III. WILLIAM3, The Pilgrim, bapt. March, 1589. We have now arrived at the point connecting the American Bradfords with those of England; hence, according to our present purpose we are to leave the consideration of the latter, and proceed with the former.
It is not within the present design to give a biography of the eminent founder of the race in America that has been ably done † and often published and distributed to the world. A remark or two from our Pilgrim Guide will be all we shall at this time encumber our memoir with. He observes, "While William was working his way to the consequence which he ultimately attained, his cousin-german, Robert, remained at Austerfield, where he married and had issue.
"William Bradford alone gives consequence to the Bradfords of Austerfield. He inherited a portion of the lands of the family; for Dr. Mather informs us that he sold his lands when he was of full age, and was living in Holland. As to the moral and religious state of the village in which he was born, it is a very unfavorable report indeed which Dr. Mather gives. He describes it as a very ignorant, profane place, not a Bible to be seen there, and with a minister at the chapel inattentive and careless. I can neither confirm nor refute this representation, which is made, it may be observed, by one whose standard of religious duty was high. But the will of which we have had an abstract, is not without traces both of piety and charity. The clergyman alluded to must have been Henry Fletcher, who was minister of Austerfield in 1591, where he married Elizabeth Elvick." But from anything that we can discover, in what is contained in our author's extracts from the will of Robert Bradford, or in his own observations, we can see no reason to dissent from a belief in Dr. Mather's denun
*The residence of "Mr. Silvester," Alkley, "lies eastward from Austerfield at no great distance, the parson of which it appears Mr. Silvester was. His will was made in 1615, from that Mr. Hunter infers him to have been a man of "a fair estate," possessing a library of English and Latin books, when, in country places, " books were exceedingly few." Hence another pleasing inference is drawn by Mr. Hunter, namely, that "this collection of books, in the hands of a friend of the family living near them, may have been a treasure of information to the Governor in his youth." ib.
↑ The best account of him is doubtless that by Dr. Belknap, in his American Biography.
ciations of the state of society at and about Austerfield in those days; especially when we consider that a similar description of morals would answer very well in almost every parish in England.* We add here a copy of Gov. Bradford's autograph in 1645-6.
William Bradford Goue?
We now pass to the commencement of the Genealogy, as furnished by GEN. FESSENDEN, whose name stands at the head of our artiticle. Before proceeding, however, it may be pleasing to glance at an impression of the SEAL used by Gov. BRADFORD in 1631-2. It was in wax, upon the important letter we published in the Gen. Reg. (Vol. II., p. 240, &c.) Although there
so much defaced as to be be made out with some difficulty, we have no doubt that it was originally intended to represent a double eagle. Our copy has the rare blemish of being too well executed.
WILLIAM BRADFORD,3 (8) as before mentioned, married, 1st. Dorothy May, of whose parentage, nothing to our knowledge, has been discovered. He m. 2dly. Alice, widow of Constant Southworth,† 14 August, 1623, believed to have been a dau. of "Mr Carpenter." She d. 26 March 1670. The children by both marriages were,
(9) I. John1, the only child by the first marriage probably, and born before the emigration, was of Duxbury in 1645, and in 1652 he was a deputy to the General Court, and a Lieutenant. The next year he is noted as of Marshfield, which he also represented in 1653. He m. Martha, dau. of Thomas and Martha Bourne of the latter place, and in 1653 removed to Norwich, Ct. where he died sine prole, 1678.
His Autograph,
John Bradford
(1) II. William1 b. 17 June, 1624, m. 1st. Alice, dau. of Thomas Richards of Weymouth, who d. 12 Dec. 1671, æ. 44; 2d. a widow Wiswall; 3d. Mrs. Mary, widow of Rev. John Holmes, second minister of Duxbury, who d. 6 Jan., 1714-15. She was dau. of John Wood, alias Atwood of Plymouth. For an interesting biography of the second WILLIAM BRADFORD, of Plymouth, there are abundant materials, both in manuscript and print. The reader will find a very satisfactory account of him in Davis' edition of Morton's Memorial. He was, next to MYLES STANDISH, a chief military man of the Colony. In Philip's War he was commander in chief of the Plymouth forces, and often exposed himself to all its perils. At the Narraganset Fort Fight he received a musket ball in his flesh, which he carried the remainder of his life. In that desperate mid-winter encounter where both parties fought for their very existence, nearly a thousand Indians fell a sacrifice, and about one hundred and fifty of the English were killed or wounded.
In the war with the Indians, he held the rank of Major, and was Assistant Treasurer and Deputy Governor of Plymouth, from 1682 to 1686, and from 1689 to 1691, and in the latter year he was one of the Council
*A multitude of authorities might be brought to support this statement, but for the present take but one only, Bunyan's Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, because accessible to everybody.
+ A neat pedigree of the Southworths is given by Mr Winsor, in his Hist. of Duxbury.
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1487 - 1552 (65 years)
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