| Administrative History | In 1762 on the death of Thomas Newport, his estates at Weston and Walsall, inherited through his mother, and those in Shropshire at High Ercall, inherited through his father, devolved upon his sister Diana, Countess of Mountrath, and Henry Bridgeman, his nephew. They both joined in a deed of partition in 1763, by which the late Earl's estates were divided into two, the Walsall lot and the Weston lot. Lady Mountrath and Sir Henry Bridgeman then literally drew lots for the Newport estates, Lady Mountrath drawing Walsall and Sir Henry, Weston. The Walsall lot included the manors of Walsall, Tamhorne, Newton and Bobbington with lands in Bentley and Little Onn and the right of presentation to Walsall church. The Weston lot included the mansion house, the manor and part of Weston, the right of presentation to Weston church and half the manor of Blymhill. Thus the Bridgemans succeeded to Weston.
The present family of Bridgeman can be said to have been founded by John Bridgeman, who became Bishop of Chester in 1619, but the family originated in Greenway, co. Devon, and there are references to them there as early as 1324. John Bridgeman, whose father was an Exeter merchant, served as chaplain to the Bishop of Peterborough and rector of Wigan before becoming Bishop of Chester. He began to reside at the Palace of Chester, which he improved considerably, from 1623. In 1631, the Bishop sold off his paternal estate in Greenway, having bought in 1629 the estate of Great Lever, with lands at Farnworth, Bolton and Lady Hall. His eldest son, Orlando, the first to bear the name, bought the Bromborough estate in Cheshire in 1638. During the Civil War the Bishop supported the King, only to be driven from his palace during the siege of Chester in 1645. He then retired to Morton Hall in Shropshire, which belonged to his son, Orlando, by virtue of his marriage to Judith Kynaston, heiress of Roger Kynaston, and died there in 1652.
Bishop John's eldest son devoted himself to the study of the law and was eventually to become Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas in 1660, and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal between 1667-1672. He resigned the latter office ostensibly for health reasons but more especially because of the political machinations of the Earl of Shaftesbury, who wanted the Seal for himself. Sir Orlando retired to Teddington where he died in 1674. Sir Orlando married twice, firstly Judith Kynaston, heiress of Norton, and secondly Dorothy, widow of George Cradock of Caverswall. The Cradocks were a Stafford merchant family, who had bought the North Staffordshire manors of Ipstones and Caverswall, and Caverswall Castle, but they were also particularly notable in Stafford public affairs in the early 17th century, the first mayor of Stafford being Matthew, George Cradock's father.
Sir John Bridgeman eldest son of Sir Orlando, inherited his father's chief estates including Great Lever in Lancashire and Morton in Salop through his mother. In 1657 he purchased the manors of Hodghill and Castle Bromwich from Leicester Devereux; these were to become the nucleus of the Warwickshire estate. Park Hall, adjacent to Castle Bromwich was bought from the Ardens in 1704 and Clifton-upon-Dunsmore had been purchased earlier in 1672. Sir John resided at Castle Bromwich with this wife, Lady Mary, and these two were responsible for much restoration work on the Hall using William Winde the Dutch architect.
Sir John Bridgeman I died in 1726, leaving his eldest son, also John to succeed him. John Bridgeman II had married Ursula Matthews, the heiress of Roger Matthews of Blodwel, co. Salop, through whom the Blodwel estate came into the family. He lived at Blodwel during his early married life, and after his father's death, moved to Castle Bromwich, but continued to make further additions to his Shropshire estates. Sir John's eldest son, later Sir Orlando, married Lady Anne Newport, the daughter of Richard, Earl of Bradford, in 1719 and it was through this marriage that the manor of Weston and other Staffordshire estates passed eventually to the Bridgemans in 1762.
Sir John Bridgeman II died in 1747 but his son, Sir Orlando had already added to the Staffordshire estates by purchasing the manor of Orslow in 1742. In 1747 he succeeded to his father's property in Lancashire and Warwickshire and his mother's property at Blodwel and Knockin. His wife Lady Anne Bridgeman died in 1752 and was outlived by her brother Thomas Newport, the 4th Earl of Bradford, who at that time still held the Weston Estate. He was declared to be of unsound mind and his estates were managed by his youngest sister Diana, Lady Mountrath and his brother-in-law, Sir Orlando Bridgeman, until his death in 1762.
Sir Henry Bridgeman succeeded his father in 1764 and the partition of the Newport estates, to which he was co-heir, has already been described. He made further purchases of parts of Blymhill and lands at Brockhurst. Sir Henry sat as MP for Wenlock and Ludlow between 1748 and 1794 and was created Baron Bradford of Bradford in 1794. His third son, Orlando, succeeded him in 1800 and his fourth son, John, succeeded to the Simpson estates at Babworth, co. Notts., through his uncle, taking the name and arms of Simpson only, under the terms of his uncle's will. John Simpson also eventually succeeded to his mother's estates at Stoke, co.Derby.
In 1802, the last Lord Mountrath died and his estates at Walsall, the other half of the 1763 partition, and Weeting, co. Norfolk passed to Orlando, 2nd Baron Bradford, while Lord Mountrath's Irish estates passed to members of the Coote family. This Lord Bradford was particularly interested in innovations in agriculture and made considerable improvements at Weston, based on the Norfolk system of agriculture. He was created Viscount Newport and Earl of Bradford in 1815.
His successors continued to make purchases to add to the estates at Weston, Castle Bromwich and Knockin throughout the 19th century. The Tong Castle estate for example was purchased in 1850. This was also a period of considerable industrial development on the Walsall and Lancashire estates. The third Earl of Bradford made further improvements at Weston by building a new wing and a large orangery, and he also enlarged the gardens. His additions to the estate at Weston included Lizard Hill. The Hon. Selina Forrester, who he married, is probably most famous for the voluminous correspondence to her and to her sister, Lady Anne Chesterfield from Disraeli.
The twentieth century has seen consolidation of the Bradford estates, although responses to modern pressures have lead to parts of the estates being sold off at various times. Weston Park was gifted to the nation by Richard, the 7th Earl of Bradford and is now in the care of the Trustees of The Weston Park Foundation. |