Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 06.djvu/199

 Simon Bradstreet (a portrait of whom is in the senate chamber of the State House, Massachusetts) married again after Anne's death, and became governor of Massachusetts in 1679, not dying till 1697, aged 94. Amongst Anne's descendants are Oliver Wendell Holmes, Dana, and Dr. Channing, besides many other of the best-known Americans.

 BRADSTREET, DUDLEY (1711–1763), adventurer, was born in 1711 in Tipperary, where his father had obtained considerable property under the Cromwellian grants, which, however, was much reduced by debts. Dudley, his youngest son, was left in his early years in charge of a foster father in Tipperary. While a youth he became a trooper, but soon quitted the army and traded unsuccessfully as a linen merchant, and subsequently as a brewer. For several years, in Ireland and England, Bradstreet led an erratic life, occupied mainly in pecuniary projects. During the rising of 1745, Bradstreet was employed by government officials to act as a spy among suspected persons. He was also engaged and equipped by the Dukes of Newcastle and Cumberland to furnish them with information on the movements of Prince Charles Edward and his army. Bradstreet assumed the character of a devoted adherent to the Stuart cause, and, under the name of 'Captain Oliver Williams,' obtained access to the prince and his council at Derby. There he acted successfully as a spy for the Duke of Cumberland, and, without being suspected by the Jacobites, continued on good terms with them, and took his leave as a friend when they commenced their return march to Scotland. Bradstreet's notices of Prince Charles and his associates are graphic. He describes circumstantially the executions, in August 1746, of the Earl of Kilmarnock and Lord Balmerino, at which he states he was present. Although Bradstreet's services as a secret agent were admitted by the government officials, he was unable to obtain from them either money or a commission in the army, which he considered had been promised to him. He, however, succeeded in bringing his case under the notice of the king, from whom he consequently received the sum of one hundred and twenty pounds. Bradstreet subsequently subsisted for a time on the results of schemes, his success in which he ascribed to the 'superstition' of the English people, and 'their credulity and faith in wondrous things.' The last of his devices at London appears to have been that styled the 'bottle conjurer,' which, with the assistance of several confederates, he carried out with great gains in January 1747-8. On his adventures in connection with the affair Bradstreet wrote a play, in five acts, styled 'The Magician, or the Bottle Conjurer,' which he states was revised for him by some of the best judges and actors in England, including Mrs. Woffington, who gave him 'the best advice she could about it.' This play was four times performed with great success at London, but on the fifth night, when Bradstreet was to have taken the part of 'Spy,' the principal character, it was suppressed by the magistrates of Westminster. 'The Bottle Conjurer' was printed by Bradstreet with his 'Life.' After other adventures, Bradstreet returned to Ireland, where he owned a small property in land. He attempted unsuccessfully to carry on trade as a brewer in Westmeath, and became involved in contests with officials of the excise. To raise funds, he printed an account of his life and adventures. The work is written with vivacity and descriptive power. Bradstreet died at Multifarnham, Westmeath, in 1763. His brother, Simon Bradstreet, was called to the bar in Ireland in 1758, created a baronet in 1759, and died in 1762. Sir [q. v.], third baronet, was a younger brother of Sir Simon, the first baronet's son and heir.

 BRADSTREET, ROBERT (1766–1836), poet, son of Robert Bradstreet, was born at Higham, Suffolk, in 1766, and educated under the care of the Rev. T. Foster, rector of Halesworth in that county. On 4 June 1782 he was admitted a pensioner of St. John's College, Cambridge, and he became a fellow-commoner of that society on 23 Jan. 1786. The dates of his degrees are B.A. 1786, M.A. 1789. Bradstreet was the possessor of an estate at Bentley in Suffolk, with a mansion called Bentley Grove, which, it is believed, he inherited from his father. He resided for several years abroad, and witnessed many of the scenes of the French revolution, of which he was at one time an advocate. He married in France, but took advantage of the facility with which the marriage tie could there be dissolved, and on his return to England he married, in 1800, Miss Adham of Mason's Bridge, near Hadleigh, Suffolk, by whom he had a numerous family. For some time he lived at Higham