Thomas Bradford (bef. 1517 - abt. 1577)

Born before 1517 in Berwick, Northumberland, England

Descendants

Died about May 1577 after about age 60 in Berwick, Northumberland, England

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Biography

Thomas Bradford was born in Northumberland, England.

Birth

Thomas Bradford was born by 1517 to Ralph of Bradford and Euffemia, illegitimate daughter of Gilbert Manners, in the garrison town of Berwick-Upon-Tweed, a turbulent region of the Anglo-Scottish border of Northumberland.^[1][2][3] Thomas had four siblings, brothers John, Anthony, and George, and sister, Elizabeth.^[4]

Marriage

While Thomas's original profile indicated that he married Elenor, daughter of Leonard Moreton (a.k.a Murton, Morton) in 1529, research has not confirmed this date, which has accordingly been removed. While it is also uncertain where the couple married, they likely they did so in Berwick, as both families had deep connections to this location.^[4] Thomas seems to have had a good relationship with his wife and her family, who were wealthy merchants in Berwick, as Thomas is referenced in Matthew Moreton's will (possibly Elenor’s great uncle), as a beloved friend and executor of his estate.^[5]

Thomas and Elenor had at least 13 children during the course of their marriage: Thomas, Jr., Robert, William, George, Lionel, Nicholas, Hugh, Bartram, Anthony, and four daughters, Jane, Constance, Margaret, and Julian.^[6]

Notable Events

Thomas Bradford spent his life in Berwick-Upon-Tweed, only one of two permanent garrisons of the British realm, where soldiers and military personnel were stationed to protect both town and castle, during the ever-present threat of Scottish raids and warfare. As a child, these must have been both exciting and frightening times, as the town was filled with foreign mercenary soldiers, many of whom were neither prudent nor professional and sought only the bounty of war.^[7][8] Although little is known of Thomas’s youth, by adulthood, he and his family were politically connected within the town, where many of the family patriarchs became aldermen and mayors. In fact, by June of 1538, Thomas figured prominently as a member of a municipal body referred to as the "Twelve" and in October of 1547 was appointed to the common council. By 1551, Thomas also served as alderman of Berwick and in 1555, he was elected to sit in the House of Commons of the bicameral parliament of England, where he received 3s. 4d. per day for his services. Gaining local prominence due to his connections with the leading families of Berwick and his own participation in the Commons (albeit one term), enabled him to successfully pursue his political ambitions within this border town.^[1]

This ambition effectively translated into multiple terms as mayor, as indicated in The History of Parliament, where, like his father, who was mayor in 1533, Thomas served in this position during the years 1557-8, 1561-2, 1564-5, and 1569-70.^[1] His mayorship is also confirmed in "A History of Northumberland," Vol. 1, where he is described as son and heir of Ralph of Bradford and mayor of the town of Berwick.^[9] Although Thomas was seemingly successful in his terms as mayor, on a humorous note, an incident occurred in 1561 where he fined himself one pound for illegally leasing part of his fishery in the Tweed to a Scotsman, which he later paid...but paid to himself.^[10][2] More magnanimously, perhaps, when the town budget fell short of the 22 pounds owed for restorations to the Town Hall or Tolbooth, Thomas contributed nine pounds of his personal funds, which were duly noted as owned to him by the governing agencies of the town of Berwick.^[10]

Following Elizabeth’s ascension to the throne in 1558, she increased Berwick's garrison to at least 1,500 soldiers, the number of which was nearly equivalent to the civilian population. It was during this period of increased military presence between 1560-1577 that Thomas served multiple terms as mayor and although the garrison was reduced in size to approximately 800 soldiers and officers by 1565, the challenges for local governance would have remained. This would have been a difficult time to be mayor, given the conflicts between town and garrison and the innumerable skirmishes that occurred between the Anglos and the Scots. Likewise, the soldiers who lived in the midst of the civilians, were subject to military authority and not that of the mayors, weakening the mayors’ governing powers within their local purview. To increase these mayoral challenges, the crown appointed Governors of Berwick frequently interfered in local politics and had little respect for the mayors of the town.^[11][12]

Yet, despite these chaotic times, the Bradford family had an appreciation for education, where the grandson of Thomas Sr., Ralph, was schooled at a "Lattyn schoole," then Cambridge, and finally to the Inns of Court for a legal education, then to France for his last two years before entry into the legal profession.^[13] Furthermore, the family retained their comfortable financial status (by 16th century Northumberland standards), as by 1568, Thomas was able to regain the Bradford estate that had earlier been sold by his brother John and likewise owned land and other properties in and around the town of Berwick.^[1] Thomas also seems to have been a moderately prosperous merchant, as he was licensed to buy beans and cereals from Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk for the citizens of Berwick and likely the garrisoned soldiers, as well.^[1] Moreover, Thomas's son outlined in his will the lands he inherited from his father (and others) and those acquired in his own right that included at least 19 farms, additional lands in Bedlington parish and in the lordship of Fowed, as well as a "mault" house, corn mill, and fisheries. It is telling that at the time of son Thomas's death, he was 650 pounds in debt, but was owed 1554 pounds from family, rents, and leases.^[14] It thus appears this educated, politically connected, and financially stable family prospered during the years of the Anglo-Scottish wars.

Death

While Thomas's place of death, Berwick-Upon-Tweed is without dispute, there is some discrepancy regarding his date of death and burial. While Volume I of A History of Northumberland indicates that Thomas's burial occurred on 2 August 1574, The History of Parliament reports his death and burial as occurring in May of 1577. This researcher has cautiously opted for the latter date, as several secondary sources on fee-based sites have likewise indicated his death as occurring in 1577.^[2][1] In the will of Thomas’s son (Thomas, Jr.), he indicated that he wanted to be buried near his mother, “in our burial porch,” in the parish church of Bamburgh, which suggests that this may be the burial site of Thomas Sr., as well.^[2]

Research Notes

Further research is needed to accurately confirm the date of death and/or burial of Thomas Bradford Sr.

After thorough investigation, the following sources did not provide additional biographical or ancestral information for Thomas Bradford:

• Stephen, L. (1885-1900). Dictionary of national biography (https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofnati06stepuoft/page/156).
• A History of Northumberland, Vols. 2-10, 12, and 13.

From the Publications of the Surtees Society:

• Index of Wills, Vol. 2 (https://archive.org/details/publicationssur00socigoog/page/n6,
• Testamenta Eboracensia, or Wills registered at York, Vol. 4, part 1 (https://archive.org/details/testamentaeborac01york/page/n8),
• Testamenta Eboracensia, or Wills Registered at York, Vol. 3, part 2 (https://archive.org/details/testamentaebora00claygoog/page/n4),
• Records of the Sanctuaries of Durham and Beverley, Vol. 5 (https://archive.org/details/publications05surtuoft/page/n5),
• Catalogues of the Libraries of Durham Cathedral and Abbey of Hulne, and the manuscripts in the library of Bishop Cosin, Vol. 7 (https://archive.org/details/publicationssur08unkngoog/page/n6),
• The Obituary Roll of William Ebchester and John Burnby, Priors of Durham, with notices of similar records preserved at Durham, from the year 1233 downwards, letters of fraternity, Vol. 31 (https://archive.org/details/publicationsofsu3118surt/page/n5),
• Wills and Inventories from the Registry at Durham, Vol. 38, part 2 (https://archive.org/details/publicationssur04socigoog/page/n6),
• Testamenta Eboracensia or Wills Registered at York, Vol. 45, part 3 (https://archive.org/details/testamentaebora04claygoog/page/n9), and
• Testamenta Eboracensia or Wills Registered at York, Vol. 79, part 5 (https://archive.org/details/testamentaeborac05york/page/n7).

Thomas's children and parents were not added to the header at this time to avoid the creation of additional Northumberland orphaned profiles.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5} The History of Parliament: British Political, Social, & Local History for Thomas Bradford (http://www.histparl.ac.uk/volume/1509-1558/member/bradford-thomas-1517-77). Retrieved from The History of Parliament Trust (http://www.histparl.ac.uk), accessed 5 December 2019.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Bateson, E. (1893). A history of Northumberland: The parish of Bamburgh with the Chapelry of Belford (https://archive.org/details/historyofnorthum01nort/page/302), Vol. I, p. 302. A continuation of John Hodgson's: A History of Northumberland, 1820-1858. New-Castle-Upon-Tyne: A. Reid, Sons, & Company. Retrieved from Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/historyofnorthum01nort), accessed 25 November 2019.
3. ↑ Van Vliet, J. (2017). From a “strong town of war” to the “very heart of the country": The English border town of Berwick-Upon-Tweed, 1558 - 1625 (Doctoral dissertation), (https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/8fdc/c58dc74bb615f31f6302d9ec920c7aa12be1.pdf, pp. 1-3. Retrieved from Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations, 3078, (https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/3078), accessed 4 December 2019.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Flower, W. (1881). The visitation of Yorkshire in the years 1563 and 1564. In C. H. Norcliffe (Ed.), (https://archive.org/details/visitationofyork00flow/page/35), pp. 35-36. The Publications of The Harleian Society. London: Mitchell and Hughes. Retrieved from Internet Archive (archive.org), accessed 29 November 2019.
5. ↑ Andrews, G. (Ed.). (1860). Wills and inventories From the Registry at Durham, part II, p. 70, (https://books.google.com/books?id=wMBJAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=snippet&q=morton&f=false). Publication of the Surtees Society. London: Mitchell and son. Retrieved from Google Books (https://books.google.com), accessed 30 November, 2019.
6. ↑ Flower, W. (1881). The visitation of Yorkshire in the years 1563 and 1564. In C. H. Norcliffe (Ed.), (https://archive.org/details/visitationofyork00flow/page/36), p. 36. The Publications of The Harleian Society. London: Mitchell and Hughes. Retrieved from Internet Archive (archive.org), accessed 29 November 2019.
7. ↑ Pigney, J. (n.d.). The battle of Flodden: Berwick and the battle of Flodden (https://www.flodden1513ecomuseum.org/project/the-battle/42-berwick-and-the-battle-of-flodden), number 42. Retrieved from Flodden 1513 Ecomuseum (https://www.flodden1513ecomuseum.org), accessed 6 December 2019.
8. ↑ Van Vliet, J. (2017). From a “strong town of war” to the “very heart of the country": The English border town of Berwick-Upon-Tweed, 1558 - 1625 (Doctoral dissertation), (https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/8fdc/c58dc74bb615f31f6302d9ec920c7aa12be1.pdf, pp. 88, 89,141. Retrieved from Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations, 3078, (https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/3078), accessed 4 December 2019.
9. ↑ Bateson, E. (1893). A history of Northumberland: The parish of Bamburgh with the Chapelry of Belford (https://archive.org/details/historyofnorthum01nort/page/388), Vol. I, p. 388. A continuation of John Hodgson's: A History of Northumberland, 1820-1858. New-Castle-Upon-Tyne: A. Reid, Sons, & Company. Retrieved from Archive.org (https://archive.org/details/historyofnorthum01nort), accessed 25 November 2019.
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} Scott, J. (1888). Berwick-Upon-Tweed: The history of the town and guild (https://archive.org/details/berwickupontwee00scotgoog/page/n310), pp. 265, 266. Also see p. 396, which indicates yearly term limits of the mayors of Berwick. London: Elliot Stock. Retrieved from Internet Archive (archive.org), accessed 27 November 2019.
11. ↑ Shannon, A. M. (2013). Projects of governance: Garrisons and the state of England, 1560's - 1630's (Doctoral dissertation), (https://dalspace.library.dal.ca/bitstream/handle/10222/42724/Shannon-Andrea-PhD-HIST-%20December-2013.pdf?sequence=1), pp. 164, 165, 171-205. Retrieved from Dalhouse University (https://dalspace.library.dal.ca), accessed 4 December 2019.
12. ↑ Van Vliet, J. (2017). From a “strong town of war” to the “very heart of the country": The English border town of Berwick-Upon-Tweed, 1558 - 1625 (Doctoral dissertation), (https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/8fdc/c58dc74bb615f31f6302d9ec920c7aa12be1.pdf, pp. 3, 34. Retrieved from Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations, 3078, (https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/3078), accessed 4 December 2019.
13. ↑ Bateson, E. (1893). A history of Northumberland: The parish of Bamburgh with the Chapelry of Belford (https://archive.org/details/historyofnorthum01nort/page/303), Vol. I, p. 303. A continuation of John Hodgson's: A History of Northumberland, 1820-1858. New-Castle-Upon-Tyne: A. Reid, Sons, & Company. Retrieved from Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/historyofnorthum01nort), accessed 25 November 2019.
14. ↑ Bateson, E. (1893). A history of Northumberland: The parish of Bamburgh with the Chapelry of Belford (https://archive.org/details/historyofnorthum01nort/page/304), Vol. I, p. 304. A continuation of John Hodgson's: A History of Northumberland, 1820-1858. New-Castle-Upon-Tyne: A. Reid, Sons, & Company. Retrieved from Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/historyofnorthum01nort), accessed 25 November 2019.

Acknowledgments

• WikiTree profile Bradford-741 created through the import of Putnam2-1_2010-01-02_2011-02-16_2011-10-11.ged on Oct 12, 2011 by John Putnam

• Bradford-1870 was created by Peter Wetherill through the import of Smaller.GED on Jun 26, 2014.