Bridget Bendish (née Ireton; 1650–1726), was a daughter of General

Henry Ireton Henry Ireton (baptised 3 November 1611; died 26 November 1651) was an English general in the Parliamentarian army during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and a son-in-law of Oliver Cromwell. He died of disease outside Limerick in November 165 ...

and

Bridget Cromwell Bridget Cromwell (1624 – June 1662) was Oliver Cromwell's eldest daughter. She married General Henry Ireton and after he died, General Charles Fleetwood. Life She was born to Elizabeth (born Bouchier) and Oliver Cromwell in 1624. Cromwell co ...

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

's eldest daughter. She was born in

Attenborough Attenborough may refer to: People * Attenborough (surname) Places * Attenborough, Nottinghamshire, a village and suburb in England ** Attenborough railway station ** Attenborough Nature Reserve Attenborough Nature Reserve is a nature reserv ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. She married Thomas Bendish, a distant relative of

Sir Thomas Bendish, 2nd Baronet Sir Thomas Bendysh, 2nd Baronet (c. 1607 – 1674) served as the List of diplomats of the United Kingdom to the Ottoman Empire, English ambassador to the Ottoman sultanate in the mid-17th century. Life Son of Sir Thomas Bendish, 1st Baronet of Bo ...

, in 1670.Her husband Thomas Bendish (1643–1707) was a son of

(Anderso
p. 383
Bridget died early in 1726 at age 76 and was buried in

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

Life

In 1652, her mother, also named Bridget Ireton (born July 1624), married General

Charles Fleetwood Charles Fleetwood ( 1618 – 4 October 1692) was an English lawyer from Northamptonshire, who served with the Parliamentarian army during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A close associate of Oliver Cromwell, to whom he was related by marriage ...

after being widowed by the death of

. In 1662, her mother died; and Bridget lived with her stepfather at

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area in the northwest part of the London Borough of Hackney, England. The area is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington (parish), Stoke Newington, the ancient parish. S ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, until she was 19. On 24 August 1669 a license was granted for her to marry Thomas Bendish (bap. 1645, d. 1707) of

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

; in 1670 they married. They moved to Southtown, near Great Yarmouth, where Bendish owned salt marshes and a saltworks on Cobholme. In 1672, he was charged with landing coal from the vessel of a non-burgess on the west side of the haven without permission. Bridget Bendish always took a lively interest in politics, and is said to have compromised herself, along with her husband, in many ways in the

Rye House Plot The Rye House Plot of 1683 was a plan to assassinate King Charles II of England and his brother (and heir to the throne) James, Duke of York. The royal party went from Westminster to Newmarket to see horse races and were expected to make the r ...

of 1683. Her views may well have been sympathetic to the Whig exclusionists. In May 1685 she aided her brother,

, in his escape from prison on suspicion of complicity. Following his recapture and imprisonment, she was allowed access to him in

Newgate Newgate was one of the historic seven gates of the London Wall around the City of London and one of the six which date back to Roman times. Newgate lay on the west side of the wall and the road issuing from it headed over the River Fleet to Mid ...

in November and December 1685. In 1688-1689 she secretly distributed papers recommending the recognition of

William III William III or William the Third may refer to: Kings * William III of Sicily () * William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702) * William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg (1817–1890) N ...

. In 1689 the clergyman Rowland Davies visited Bendish's house "and saw all his contrivance to make salt."

Archbishop Tillotson John Tillotson (October 1630 – 22 November 1694) was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1691 to 1694. Curate and rector Tillotson was the son of a Puritan clothier at Haughend, Sowerby, Yorkshire. Little is known of his early youth; he stu ...

introduced Bridget to Queen Mary in 1694, and a pension was promised her, but it was never granted, owing to the death of both her patrons immediately after the interview. On 27 April 1707, her husband Thomas Bendish died, leaving her in charge of their business. Mrs. Bendish was always careless about money matters, and although she received a large bequest from her aunt, Lady Fauconberg, she had to depend for her livelihood in her old age on her own exertions.

Family

Two of their sons and a daughter reached adulthood: Thomas, who died in the West Indies; Bridget, who died at Yarmouth, unmarried, in 1736, aged 64; and Henry, who died in London in 1740, having married Martha Shute, the sister of

John Barrington, 1st Viscount Barrington John Barrington, 1st Viscount Barrington (1678 – 14 December 1734), known as John Shute until 1710, was an English dissenting theology, theologian and Whig politician who sat in the British House of Commons, House of Commons from 1715 to 172 ...

Assessment

She was always determined to defend her family heritage. In 1719, a local dissenting minister,

Samuel Say Samuel Say (1676–1743) was an English dissenting minister. Life The second son of Gyles Say, an ejected minister, by his second wife, he was born in All Saints' parish, Southampton, on 23 March 1676. He was educated at schools in Southwick, H ...

, wrote in "The character of Mrs B idgetB ndishgranddaughter of Oliver Cromwell" on occasion of the closing words of Lord Clarendon's character of her grandfather that he was "a brave wicked man." This work, which was not published until after her death, portrayed her as a rigid

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

of uncertain temper, with a strength of will and physical courage rarely paralleled. According to Say, she labored incessantly in her own household, on her husband's farm, and at his saltworks, yet was always noted for dignity of mien and the charm of her conversation. She was reputed to bear a physical resemblance to her grandfather, of whose reputation she was an ardent champion. Samuel Say recorded an incident when Bridget was traveling to London in a public coach when a fellow passenger, in conversation with a companion, spoke lightly of

. Bridget not only inveighed against the offender for the rest of the journey, but on landing in London snatched another passenger's sword from its sheath and challenged the slanderer to fight her there and then.

References

Cited works

*Anderson, James. ''Memorable women of the Puritan times'', Volume 2, Blackie and son, 1862. Chapter on "Bridget Ireton, Wife of Thomas Bendish
pp. 382–402
;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Bendish, Bridget 1650 births 1726 deaths Cromwell family People of the Rye House Plot People from Attenborough, Nottinghamshire