Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 06.djvu/189

 of Marple and Wibersley halls, Stockport, Cheshire, who died in 1654. His mother was Catherine, daughter of Ralph Winnington of Offerton in the same county, who was married at Stockport on 4 Feb. 1593, and died in January 1603-4. The eldest surviving son, Henry, the heir to the family property, was born in 1600. Francis, the youngest son, was baptised on 13 Jan. 1603-4.

John was born at Wibersley Hall in 1602, and baptised at Stockport Church on 10 Dec. in that year. Educated first at the free school of Stockport, he afterwards attended schools at Bunbury, Cheshire, and Middleton, Lancashire. There is a doubtful tradition that he spent some time in his youth at Macclesfield, and there wrote on a gravestone the lines:

He studied law in London, and was called to the bar at Gray's Inn on 23 April 1627. He had previously served for several years as clerk to an attorney at Congleton, and apparently practised as a provincial barrister. He was mayor of Congleton in 1637, and high steward of the borough several years later (Gent. Mag. lxxxviii. i. 328). He formally resigned the office in May 1656. At Congleton he maintained no little state, and possessed much influence in the neighbourhood. He was steward of the manor of Glossop, Derbyshire, in 1630.

'All his early life,' writes Bradshaw's friend, Milton, in the 'Second Defence of the People of England' (1654), 'he was sedulously employed in making himself acquainted with the laws of his country; he then practised with singular success and reputation at the bar.' Before 1643 he had removed from Congleton to Basinghall Street, London, and in that year was a candidate for the post of judge of the sheriffs' court in London. The right of appointment was claimed by both the court of aldermen and the court of common council, and the latter elected Bradshaw on 21 Sept. About the same time the aldermen nominated Richard Proctor, a rival candidate. Bradshaw entered at once upon the duties of the office, and continued in it till 1649, when other employment compelled him to apply for permission to nominate a deputy. Proctor meanwhile brought an action against him in the king's bench. The suit lingered till February 1654-5, when the claim of the court of common council to the appointment was established.

In October 1644 Bradshaw was one of the counsel employed in the prosecution of Lord Macguire of Fermanagh and Hugh Macmahon for their part in the Irish rebellion of 1641. Bradshaw acted with William Prynne, and the latter received much assistance from Bradshaw in his elaborate argument proving that Irish peers were amenable to English juries. The trial resulted in the conviction of Macguire. In 1645 Bradshaw was counsel for John Lilburne in his successful appeal to the House of Lords against the sentence pronounced on him in the Star-chamber for publishing seditious books eight years before. The commons nominated Bradshaw one of the commissioners of the great seal on 8 Oct. 1646, but the lords declined to confirm this arrangement. On 22 Feb. 1646-7 he was appointed chief justice of Chester, and on 18 March following a judge in Wales. In June he was one of the counsel retained (with Oliver St. John, Jermin, and William Prynne) for the prosecution of Judge Jenkins on the charge of passing judgment of death on men who had fought for the parliament. In a letter to the mayor of Chester (1 Aug. 1648) he promises to resume his practice of holding 'the grand sessions' at Chester after 'the sad impediment' of the wars, but only promises attention to the city's welfare on condition of its inhabitants' constant compliance with the directions of parliament (Hist. MSS. Comm. 5th Rep. p. 344). On 12 Oct. 1648 the parliament created Bradshaw and several other lawyers of their party serjeants-at-law.

On 2 Jan. 1648-9 the lords rejected the ordinance of the commons for bringing the king to trial before a parliamentary commission. The commons straightway resolved to proceed on their sole authority. Certain peers and judges had been nominated members of the commission; but the names of the former were now removed (3 Jan.), and those of Bradshaw, Nicholas, and Steele, all lawyers without seats in the house, substituted. On 6 Jan. the ordinance for the trial passed its final stage. On 8 Jan. the commission held its first private meeting in the Painted Chamber at Westminster to discuss the procedure at the trial, but Bradshaw did not put in an appearance. A second meeting took place two days later, from which Bradshaw was also absent. The commissioners then proceeded to elect a president, and the choice fell upon the absent lawyer. Mr. Say filled the post for the rest of that day's sitting, but a special summons was sent to Bradshaw to be present at the meeting to be held on 12 Jan. He then appeared and 'enlarged upon his own want of abilities to undergo so important a charge. &hellip; And when he was pressed &hellip; he