Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/568

* BRIDGET. 494 BRIDGEWATER. of royal race and his bond-servant. She was brought iij) by a wizard, wlio had boufrlit her mother, and whom she oonvcrtod to Cliristianity, but was liberated by tlic King. Slie became a nun and fimnded the Church and Monastery of Ivildarc (the Church of the Oalc), and there died February 1, 523. She was unquestionably a woman of rare ability and consecration, and properly became, along with Patrick and Co- luinba, one of the three great saints of Ire- land. Her story, as told in Irish legends, is very attractive and based probaldy on facts. See it in Whitley Stokes, Three Middle-Irish Homilies on the Lives of tiaiiits Patrick, Brigit, and Co- lumba (Calcutta, 1877). She was renowned for her beautj'. To escape the temptations to which this dangerous gift exposed her, as well as the offers of marriage with which she was annoyed, she prayed God to make her ugly. Her prayer- was granted, and she retired from the world, founded tl>e monastery already mentioned, and devoted herself to the" education of young girls. Her day falls on the 1st of February. She was held in" great reverence in Scotland, and was re- garded by the Douglases as their tutelary saint. BRIDGETON, brij'ton. A city, port of entry, and county-seat of Cumberland County, N. J., 38 miles south of Philadelphia, at the head of navigation on the Cohansey River, and on the New Jersey Central and the West .Jersey and Seashore railroads (Map: New Jersey, B 5). It has manufactures of glass, gas-pipes, nails, castings, machinery, lumber, flour, oilcloth, and woolens. The canning of fruits and vegetables is carried on. Among its educational advantages are the South Jersey Institute, the West Jersey Academy, and Ivj'"Hall Seminary. Bridgeton has good transportation facilities, and the sur- rounding region is exceedingly fertile and well cultivated. Though settled long before the Revo- lution, Bridgeton was not incorporated until 1864. The government is administered under a charter of 1875, which provides for a mayor, elected everv three years, and a city council. The mayor, with the coiiscnt of the co icil, appoints the five members of the board of assessors. The board of education is chosen by the council. The waterworks are owned and operated by the municipality. Population, in 1890, 11,424; in 1900. 1:5.913. BRIDGE'TOWN. The capital of the British West Indian island of Barbadoes, situated on the western coast, along the northeastern shore of Carlisle Bay (Map: West Indies. S 8). It has some trade "and is the terminus of the only rail- way on the island. The town is the seat of Codrington College and of the Hisho]) of Barba- does. and among its prominent structures are the Government buildings, the town hall, hospi- tal, and the buildings of the garriscm. Bridge- town was founded in the first lialf of the Seven- teenth Century, and for some time was known as Indian Bridge. It lias sulTered severely from fires, notably in Ifitlfi. 1766. and 1845. and in 1831 it was" visited by a disastrous hurricane. Population, over 21.000. BRIDGE'WA'TER (from Tiurrih-'Waher. the town of Walter Douay, its founder). town and port of Somersetshire. England, on the Par- ret, 12 miles by river from the Bristol Channel. and 30 miles southwest of Bristol (Map: V.wi- land, C 5). The town is ehieflv built of brick. The Parret admits vessels of 700 tons up to the town; it rises 30 feet at springtides, and is sub- ject to ;i tidal bore often detrimentiil to ship- ])ing. The town owns its water-supply and main- tains public libraries and baths. Bath or scour- ing bricks, peculiar to Bridgewater. are made here of a mi.xture of sand and clay found in the river. There are also factories for the manu- facture of iron and copper ware. Admiral Blake was a native of Bridgewater. Population, in 1891, 13.264; in 1901, 15.209. The town received its first charter from Edward I. It suffered severely in the Civil War. wlien it was taken in turn by both Royalists and Roundheads. Sedge- moor, the scene of the defeat of the Duke of ilonmouth by the royal forces in 1685, lies a little to the southeast of the town. BRIDGEWATER. A port of Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, at the head of the La Have estuary, 12 miles west of Lunenburg (Map: Nova Scotia, E 5). Lumber constitutes its chief in- dustry, and it contains the main offices of the Nova Scotia Central Railway. The neighborhood is resorted to for its excellent trout-fishing. The United States is represented by a consular agent. The town suffered from a destructive fire in 1899, which devastated the greater part. Population, 4000. BRIDGEWATER. A town in Plymouth County, Mass., 27 miles south of Boston, on the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad ( Map : Massachusetts, E 4 ) . It contains iron- works, a foundry, a tack-factory, shoe-factory, brick-yards, and a cotton-gin factory. The town has a public library, and is the seat of a State normal school and of a State workhouse. The government is administered by town meetings, held ainuially. Population, in 1890, 4249; in 1900, 5806. 'Bridgewater, settled in 1645 as a plantation of Duxbury. was incorporated as a separate township in 1656, when its old name, Nuncketest, was discarded. It was one of the first towns to be settled in the interior of Massa- chusetts. It inchided the territorv' of the towns later incorporated as East, West and Nortli Bridgewater. Consult JlitchcU, History of Bridyc- lailrr ( I'.ridgcwatcr, 1897). BRIDGEWATER, Francis Egerton. third and last Duke of (1736-1803). An English canal- builder sometimes called the 'Father of Britisli Inland Navigation.' Hi' was the youngest son of Scroop, fourtli Earl and first Duke of Bridge- water, and succeeded his elder brother, second Duke, in 1748. In 1758-60 he obtained acts of Parliament for making a navigable canal from Worsley to Salford. Lancashire, and carrying it over the IVfersey and Trwell at Barton by an aque- duct 39 feet above the surface of the water, and 200 yards long, thus forming a communication between his coal-mines at Worsley and Manches- ter on one level. In this and his lat^r great imdertakings he was aided by the skill of .Tames Brindley fq.v.l. the celobrnted engineer, .and ex- pended large sums of money. Tie was also a lib- eral promoter of the Grand Trunk Navigation; and the impulse he thus gave to the internal navigation of England led to the extension of the eanal system throughout the kingdom. BRIDGEWATER, Fr vxris Henrt KnERTOTT, eichth Earl of (17.'56-lS2n), The son of .Tohn loLTerfon. Bishop of Durhinn. and grandnenhew of ll'c first Duke of Bridgewater. He was born in