Richard Blackwall of Blackwall of Derbysh^r gent^l Inheritor of the
third pt of Barford in (now sold to M^r Lane there) w^{ch} Richard
had to wife Anne the sister of Tho. Sutton of Ou^rhaddon in the said
County of Derby Esq^r (whose widow John Bently aft^r maried) by whiche
Grisild the said Anthony had 4 sonnes viz Willm ffrancis John (w^{ch}
three dyed all younge w^{th}out issue). And Exuperie who maried Ann
one of the daughters of Lysle of Maxhill in the County of Warr Esq^r
by the daughter of Repington of Annyngton in the same Countie Esq^r
(whose former husband was one M^r Willughby) whiche Exupie hath not
yette any yssue The same Anthony second wife ys Elizabeth the daughter
of Richard Haughton of Holbroke in the said County of Derby (decended
from Haughton of Haughton tower in the County ofcLanc. Esq^r). By which
Elizabeth the same Anthony had Ninteene Children viz Nyne Sonnes viz
Jacquth, Erasimus, Joseph, Vicesimus & Peregrine yet liveing, Antony,
Quintin, Micaell & Candidus deceased, tenn daughters viz Elizabeth,
ffelix, Petronilla (modo nuta Marco Jackson in Com. Leic. gent) also
Atanasca, Mildred, Brandona, Milicent, Casandria, Penultima yet
liueing, and Isodora deceased
E5. Elizabeth mared to John Bagshaw of Bradshawgh Esq^r gent, who had
ysue one sonne Nicolas & daughters Marie, maried to M^r Rawlison of
gate by
f1. The said francis the eldest sonne of the same Godfrey the father
Maried Anne one of the four daughters and co-heiress of Humph of Eyam
in the said County Esq^r (by whome he had Eyam hall and those Lands in
that partition). And Roland Eyre of Hassoppe in the same County Esq^r
maried another of the same daughters. And Mr. Savage of Castleton
in the same County maried the third of the same daughters and Mr.
M----wood of Stadon in the same County maried the fourth of the same
daughters and coheirs of the same M^r Stafford
H3 Henerey the sonne hee maried one of the daughters and heires of
Wynyngton gent. (with whome hee had certaine Lands in Alfreton) in the
pish of Stokport in Cheshire by whome hee had yssue Ralfe This Henery
purchased dyu^rs Land in Marple and ellswhere
A3. Besides some other Lands to him decended This Anthony purchased
ffayrles and ffayrles hall and certaine other lands in Dufeild and
in Derbysh^r from the said Dorothee, Anne Derby and erected a little
Almshouse in the towne of Dufeild, and his little Monument his other
Sister and being married to owne in Dufeild Chirch Thornell there
ffrancis Bradshawgh being nowe 1610 of the In^r Temple London, and
Counsello^r of the Law Esq now maried to Barbary one of the daughters
of S^r John Davenport of Davenport in the County of Chester Esq^r (unto
which ffrancis, the mano^r of Abney, by Eham, decended or was devised,
from and by Godfrey Bradshawgh his unckle who [dyed w^{th}out yssue]
did purchase the same Mano^r and dyed w^{th}ou issue And the said
[Leonard] ffrancis the father had other sonnes viz Humphrey, Roland,
George, and Peeter (and diue^{rs} daughters hereunder also mentioned)
by the said Anne And the said Godfrey the eldest, haueing as aforesaid,
other young^r sonnes, Len^rd, Godfrey, Peeter, and Henery as first
abovesaid the same Henery the youngest brother dyed also younge and
w^{th}out yssue And the said Leon^rd the second sonne of the said
Godfrey the eldest hath yssue Leon^rd, Peeter and Mary yet livenge
And the said Peeter the third sonne of the said Godfrey the eldest
maried with one of the daughters of M^r Johnson of the redd Crosse in
Wattlinge streete Citizen and Merchant Tayler of London, by whome he
hath nowe two sonnes viz Edward and yett liveing, god blesse them The
said Godfrey the ffather had also diu^rs daughters viz Amye who dyed
unmaried Marie who maried one Smith of Lincolnsh^r, by whome hee had a
sonne who now is a vintner & keepeth the three tonnes att Yeald hall
gate in London Hellen maried to one Martin Ashe of Ashgate in Brampton
nere Chesterfeild by whome hee hath diuers children
The same ffrancis the ffather also had diue^{rs} daughters, viz
Endorsed. _Anthony Bradshawes Pedigree in his handwriting._)
]
Godfrey, the eldest son of William Bradshawe, of Bradshaw, was born
29th September, 1531, and began his experiences of the troubles of life
very early. At what date he married Margaret, daughter of Roger Howe,
of Ashop, is not recorded; but as early as 1550, when only 19, he
and his wife are quarrelling like the children they undoubtedly were,
and after ineffectual attempts “to cause them to continue lovingly
together as man and wife,” their respective parents took the necessary
legal proceedings to separate them so that each might be enabled to
marry again. The old MSS. connected with this part of Godfrey’s life
are very curious reading, as they arrange for the partition of the
household goods, and even to the return to Margaret’s parents of the
clothes provided for a possible nursery. After the divorce, Godfrey
did not go far afield for a second wife. He married Emma, the daughter
of Anthony Shawcross, of Shawcross, quite a near neighbour. In 1568
serious troubles arose[53] in consequence of his having enclosed a
portion of his land at Chinley, not two miles distant from Bradshaw.
His action was highly resented by the inhabitants, who pulled his
fences down, burnt a house, and
[53] _Derbyshire Archæological Journal_, vol. xxi., p. 61.
“assembling themselfs together in great companies at the Towne of
Hayfield w^{th} unlawfull weapons that is to saye w^{th} bowes pytche
fforks clobbes staves swords & daggers drawen Ryotously dyd then &
there assaulte & p’sue the sayd Godfrey & Edward Bradshawe.”
On another occasion certain people
“on foote & Raulphe Mellour upon his horse backe ryotouslye followed
the sayd Edward Bradshawe & Godfrey Bradshawe the space of one quarter
of a myle from the sayd towne of Heyfield & w^{th} drawen weapons
had ryotouslye like to have slayne & murthered the sayd Godfrey &
Edward.... At another tyme by nyght ... the sayd p^rcell of grounde
beinge newlye enclosed agayn by the sayd Godfrye by ther consents
beinge quicksetts w^{th} xliii hundreth quicksetts willowes & willowe
stacks they dyd pull downe the same agayne,” etc., etc.
The disturbances were eventually quelled, and the rioters tried in the
Court of the Star Chamber.
On the 10th April, 1570, Godfrey executed a deed of entail of Bradshawe
on himself for life, with remainder to Francis, his eldest son, and
then to Leonard, Godfrey, Peter, and Henry, his other four sons, in
tail male, in default to his three brothers, Henry, of Marple, Francis,
and Anthony. In a list of the principal landowners in the High Peak for
1570 appear the names of Godfrey Bradshawe, of Bradshaw, and of his
wife’s brother, Leonard Shallcrosse, of Shalcross.[54]
[54] _Reliquary_, vol. viii., p. 189.
Godfrey died early in the year 1607, and was succeeded by his eldest
son, Francis, who was married when quite a child to Anne, one of the
four daughters and co-heiresses of Humphry Stafford, of Eyam. Indeed,
he was not much more than nine years old according to the register of
his birth, for the 4th May, 1565, appears to have been the day on which
he was married. The Staffords had been settled at Eyam certainly as far
back as the reign of King John, at which time their lands were held
“by hereditary right for the free service of finding one lamp burning
before the altar of St. Helen in the church at Eyam throughout the year
during divine service.”[55]
[55] _Derbyshire Archæological Journal_, vol. xxiii., p. 83.
The possessions to be divided among the four daughters appear to have
been very considerable. In 1568 a deed was executed to enable Francis
Bradshawe and Anne, his wife, peaceably to enjoy a fourth part of the
lands lately the inheritance of Humphry Stafford. This consisted of
much of the ancient domain of the Staffords actually in Eyam, with the
Old Hall, and included lands in the vicinity at Monyash, Chelmorton,
and other places, as well as the whole of the townships of Bretton and
Foolow. No evidence exists as to the destiny of the two children for
some years after their marriage. Ten years later, however, they were
apparently living in the Old Hall at Eyam, and on the 8th of January,
1576, a settlement of the hall and lands at Eyam was executed on the
young couple, and upon their eldest son. The deed must have been
drawn up either before or immediately after his birth, for a space has
been left blank throughout the original deed for the Christian name of
“their son and heir.” The Manor of Abney, which marched with his wife’s
estates, was bought in October, 1593. It adjoins Bretton and Foolow,
which are townships in the ecclesiastical parish of Eyam.
There is no evidence that Francis Bradshawe ever lived in Bradshaw
Hall, which devolved on him on the death of his father, Godfrey, in
1607. Only three years elapsed between this event and his eldest son’s
marriage, and in all probability the Hall had no permanent tenant until
after it had been rebuilt. At any rate there is little doubt that
Francis Bradshawe, the elder, as he is generally styled, lived on at
Eyam Hall, where his chief interests lay, until his death, of which
date there is no record. After the year 1615,[56] when he qualified
as a magistrate for the county, nothing is known about him. His wife
died before the 18th December, 1606, the date of a settlement of “money
which rightly belonged to the said Francis in right of Anne, his late
wife.” Francis, the eldest son of their very large family, succeeded
him. The first date of which there is any evidence of his being in
possession of the estates is 10th June, 1619, when he executed a deed
entailing them on his heirs male. This same year, too, evidently marked
the completion of the rebuilding of the Hall, for a stone is still in
existence inscribed F.B., B.B., 1619, which most probably formed the
centre-piece over the doorway in the entrance porch, now demolished.
His wife was Barbara, daughter of Sir John Davenport, of Davenport,
co. Chester. In his marriage settlements, bearing the date of 1610,
he is described as barrister-at-law of the Inner Temple. Possibly he
made London and Eyam Hall his headquarters till the completion of the
hall, which work may well have begun soon after his grandfather’s death
in 1607, when it was probably assigned to him as a future residence.
It is fairly certain that the present hall was the first stone-built
residence of the Bradshawes, for the following reason. After the
civil wars of Stephen’s reign, it was found necessary to forbid such
substantial residences to be built without permission from the King.
Timber, therefore, was the principal material used for ordinary
buildings, and only in the time of the Tudor Sovereigns did the long
established custom of ignoring the stone of the district begin to die
out. The half-timbered houses still so prevalent in Cheshire are scarce
in our own county, but 300 years ago they were probably common enough,
and as a contrast to the stone walls must have added considerably
to the beauty of the Peak country. Such a house, therefore, we may
well imagine the original Bradshaw Hall to have been, standing in a
conspicuous place on the slope of Eccles Pike.
[56] _Three Centuries of Derbyshire Annals_, by Dr. Cox, vol. i., p. 38.
In the time of Henry VIII., however, the ancient custom of allowing the
smoke to find its own way out through a hole in the tiling, which was
called the “louvre,” began to be discontinued, and stone-built chimneys
were then added outside the timber house for the sake of safety. Mr.
Gunson, in his article on Bradshaw Hall,[57] says:—
[57] _Derbyshire Archæological Journal_, vol. xxv., p. 5. I am indebted
to Mr. Gunson for much of the description of the actual building.
This chimney contained a broad archway opening into the room in
which the log fire was kindled. This seems to have been the case at
Bradshaw, for on the line of what was formerly the outside wall of
the hall is still standing a great stone chimney stack. That it was
the chimney to the ancient Hall, and is the oldest portion of the
present building, there can be but little doubt, for it plays no part
in the later design. Moreover, a portion of the top where the plaster
‘parging’ of its flue can still be seen has been taken down to allow
the main timbers of the present roof to pass over its head; it has
been filled in and its archway beneath built up. When the architect
designed the later building he found that this old stack fell into
line with his plan and served as a support for the great staircase
which he built around it.”
No doubt it was the presence of this huge and apparently useless block
of masonry, running the whole height of the house, which gave rise to
the generally accepted notion that Bradshaw Hall possessed a secret
chamber or “priest hole.” This legend is adopted by Mr. Allan Fea, who
remarks in his interesting book on _Secret Chambers and Hiding Places_:
“Bradshaw Hall has or had a concealed chamber high up in the wall of a
room on the ground floor, which was capable of holding three persons.”
Of course, tradition says “the wicked judge was hidden here.” The
actual place here described is a modern cupboard, which has not been in
existence a century as yet!
One other remnant of the old house remains in the present structure. To
use Mr. Gunson’s words:
“The staircase is supported on bearing timbers made of principals from
the old high-pitched roof, in which the mortices and oak pins still
disclose their previous use and design; these, after serving their
original purpose for generations, were yet sound enough to be used to
sustain the heavy staircase—a remarkable testimony to the quality of
the oak selected for such purposes some six centuries ago, and still
apparently as good as ever.”
The interior of the house some sixty or seventy years ago was somewhat
altered to meet the requirements of two families of farm tenants; but
as originally built, it contained the dining-hall—which was also the
usual living room of the family—out of this opened the withdrawing
room. These two rooms occupied the whole of one wing, and were
accessible from the main entrance through a vestibule or small hall,
lighted by a quaint little window on the right, and entirely shut off
from the big staircase. The dining-hall was a spacious room, lighted by
a pair of four-light windows, now converted into modern sash lights.
“Above, to support the floor of the upper storey are massive oak
beams about 16 ins. deep by 14 ins. wide. On the left is a very fine
segmental arch over the entrance to the staircase; it has a span of
4 ft., and its depth from front to back is 4 ft. 1 in., being deeply
splayed on the outer side. Altogether the design is striking, and if
the old window lighting the staircase behind it were but opened out,
the effect would be distinctly quaint and picturesque.”
Another archway leads to the kitchen, and at the top of the hall was
the original great fireplace and a door, which led into the withdrawing
room. The same kind of beams cross the ceiling of this room, though
in a different direction to those of the hall, and it is lighted by
similar windows. All the rooms at Bradshaw are exceptionally lofty, and
the windows, which have not been tampered with,
“are beautifully proportioned examples of the plain mullioned and
transomed type. An especial feature of Bradshaw is that all the door
jambs have been splayed off. The direction always follows the line of
general traffic, and the idea evidently was to cut off the corners,
and especially in the case of the kitchens, no doubt to facilitate the
carriage of the heavily laden trenchers to the dining hall.”
The kitchen and offices formed the other wing.
“The massive staircase is about 4 ft. in width, and consists of solid
oak steps; it is supported by the ancient chimney stack, and opens
into a small landing on the first floor, from which access is given to
various bedrooms, and through them to others. This landing, which was
originally lighted by the usual four-light window, now partially built
up, has a remarkable ceiling, cornice, and frieze, in plaster work.
Around the latter in raised letters is the following verse:—
LOVE GOD BVT NOT GOLD. A MAN
WITHOVT MERCY OF MERCY SHALL
MISS BVT HE SHALL HAVE MERCY
THAT MERCYFVL IS.”
An inventory[58] of the contents of the hall, taken after the death
of Francis Bradshawe gives us not only an idea of the contents of the
mansion house of a gentleman of that period, but it also furnishes
us with the names of the various rooms. Among them is mentioned “The
Gallerie, the Gallerie Chamber, and the Clocke Chamber.” The contents
of his own bedroom are as follows:
[58] _Derbyshire Archæological Journal_, vol. xxv., p. 66.
“One bedstedd w^{th} curtaines and Vallancies and all other Furniture,
a Truckle Bedd and Fether bedd thereon Two tables one Standinge
Cupboard Three Chaires two plaine Chaires Nyne Joynt Stooles two
little ones a Close Stoole six Tables and Cupboard Cloathes. Two
Skreenes, a Lookeing Glasse Three Brushes a p^r of Snuffers Firepan
and Tongs.”
Over the kitchen a fine example of an oak panelled room still remains
in good condition. The contents of the cellars are described in the
inventory as “one greate tuninge vessel and 3 lesser vessells and
twentie barrells.” These big cellars have apparently been filled in and
flagged over, for in spite of the legend that they still exist, it has
been found impossible to discover their position. Of the outbuildings,
the big cow house still remains, of the same date as the hall, with
windows of a similar design.
The principal entrance to the hall, with its porch, now removed,
originally faced Eccles Pike, over which ran an ancient highway, and
connected with this was an old bridle road leading to the stone-built
arch which was the main gateway. This is still in admirable condition,
and beyond the fact that there are indications that originally the
archway was enclosed with double gates, which are not now in existence,
it is much as it left the builders’ hands. Over it, on the side facing
the hill, is a shield bearing a coat of arms, as follows: “Argent two
bendlets between two martlets sable” for Bradshawe. Impaling “or a
chevron gules between three martlets sable” for Stafford. Above the
shield is the Bradshawe crest, “A stag at gaze proper under a Vine Tree
fruited proper.”
This coat bears the impress of the work of an amateur, as Francis
Bradshawe could only have impaled the Davenport arms as borne by his
wife’s family, while he had the right to bear the Stafford arms
quarterly with his own, because his mother was an heiress. Had his
father built the archway, as some writers have suggested, the Stafford
coat would have been borne over the Bradshawe shield on a “Scutcheon of
pretence.”
On the reverse side of the archway is the inscription, “Francis
Bradshawe, 1620,” below which is a shield bearing the curious device,
apparently heraldic, of a thorn between six nails. It has puzzled
several students of heraldry. The suggestion was made a few years ago,
which is almost certainly the correct one, that it is no heraldic
achievement, but “a rebus” on the name Bradshawe:
“viz six nailes for the plural ‘Brads’ a species of nail, and the
thorn for the old English Haw hence Brads-haw, that the scroll of
foliage surrounding the shield may be a spray of barberry, the
whole being in honour of Barbara Bradshawe, whose name would thus
appropriately follow that of her husband as her initials did upon the
stone of the previous year.”
[Illustration: Bradshawe Hall: Detail of Gateway.]
A feature of the walling round Bradshaw is its heavy double coping. The
building of the archway and stone fence would not have been built till
after “the bulky traffic necessary during the building operations no
longer prohibited a restricted approach.” This would account for the
date of the gateway being a year later than that of the hall. Here,
then, Francis Bradshawe and his wife took up their abode, in the old
home rebuilt and modernized according to the fashion of the times. In
the year 1630–1 he served the office of High Sheriff for the county,
succeeding Sir John Stanhope, of Elvaston. The accounts connected with
his shrievalty were kept with scrupulous care. They were published in
the _Archæological Journal_ for 1904, and are very quaint reading. The
board and lodging of the two judges on circuit, for all the officials
connected with the Court of Assize, and for the prisoners awaiting
their trial, as well as the expense entailed by the execution and
burial of those condemned to be hanged, are all included. Contrary
to the custom of the present day, the grand jury were fed at the High
Sheriff’s expense, and a band was provided to entertain them. Among
his personal expenses we read that £11 6s. was paid for lace, £1 3s.
10d. for twenty-six long buttons, 19s. for two dozen “silke and gould
buttons and a neeke button,” £30 for twenty-six hatbands, 10s. for
his boots, £2 3s. 4d. for his saddle, 11s. 8d. for the fringe, and £1
3s. 10d. for the “silver boole,” which may have been his buckle, but
might possibly have been a bowl to be used as a loving cup. At Kirk
Ireton he is charged for the hire of a horse, as well as for the keep
of the one he left behind, which item suggests the probability that in
riding his own horse, as would have been most likely, all the way from
Bradshaw to Derby, he had been obliged to change horses on the road,
and Kirk Ireton, being on his line of route in travelling by the old
but now disused road from Bakewell, he had elected to make the exchange
there. During this year he had the misfortune to lose his wife. The
entry of her death in the parish registers of Chapel-en-le-Frith for
the year 1631 is as follows: “Barbara, the wife of Francis Bradshawe,
of Bradshaw, High Sheriff for this Countie this yeare, was buried
in the chancell the xviiijth day.” On the 31st of July, 1632, he
married as his second wife Lettice Clarke, widow, described in the
Chapel-en-le-Frith register as “step-daughter to Sir Harvey Bagott,
Knt.” She was the eldest daughter of Sir Thomas Dilke, of Maxstoke
Castle, co. Warwick. After his death she married, as her third husband,
Sir John Pate, Bart. Francis Bradshawe died 25th March, 1635, and was
buried with his wife on the 27th. His will, made about a month after
his second marriage, left two-thirds of his residue to his brother
George, his successor in the family estates, and one-third to his
widow. She appears to have made Bradshaw her residence till about the
year 1637, at which date Bradshaw Hall was apparently occupied by a
Mr. Thomas Wigstone; at any rate, he is described as of Bradshaw in the
register of the baptism of his daughter Lettice in the October of that
year. He may have been a friend or relation, but Nicholas Lomas, who,
according to the register, died at Bradshaw in 1640, would certainly
have been a tenant. Francis Bradshawe was the last member of the family
to reside at Bradshaw; notwithstanding the large amount of money that
had been expended on the hall only fifteen years before.
George Bradshawe, his brother and successor, lived throughout his
married life at Eyam; the old Hall, the home of the Staffords, his
mother’s ancestors, having been entirely rebuilt for him. He was buried
in Eyam Church, 25th June, 1646. His widow lived on at Eyam until she
and her only unmarried daughter were driven away by the plague, which
was raging in that village during the years 1665 and 1666. Francis,
the eldest son, who inherited all the Bradshaw estates, had married
in 1652 Elizabeth Vesey, a Yorkshire heiress, and he elected to live
in his wife’s ancestral home at Brampton, co. York, and there did
all the future Bradshawes, of Bradshaw, live, forsaking the old home
and county. Francis Bradshawe died at Brampton, 21st December, 1659,
leaving two sons. Francis, the elder, who succeeded to the estates
but died unmarried in 1677, left all his estates to his brother, John
Bradshawe. Living as his father had done in the old hall at Brampton,
John Bradshawe allowed strangers to continue to rent Bradshaw Hall.
In 1660, during the minority of his brother, the hall had been let to
Edward Ash and Thomas Wright, and he himself let it to John Lowe in
1693. In 1717 John Bradshawe was High Sheriff for the County of Derby,
but he died where he had lived, at Brampton, co. York, in November,
1726, leaving by his wife Dorothy, daughter of Anthony Eyre, of
Rampton, co. Notts, a son, George, and a daughter, Elizabeth. George
Bradshawe succeeded to the Bradshawe estates, but dying childless in
1735, the estates devolved on his sister’s son as heir-at-law and from
him the present representative of the family is descended.