Sir John Bridgeman, SL (1568/69 – 5 February 1638) was a barrister of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and W ...

serjeant-at-law A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are w ...

and local magnate in the West of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

during the early 17th century.

Early career

Bridgeman came from a minor gentry family settled at

Littledean Littledean is a village in the Forest of Dean, west Gloucestershire, England. The village has a long history and formerly had the status of a town. Littledean Hall was originally a Saxon hall, although it has been rebuilt and the current house da ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. He matriculated from Magdalen College, Oxford in June 1582, and after some years at Clifford's Inn, was admitted to the

in June 1591. Sometime during this period, he married Frances Daunt. When her brother Giles died in 1596, he became embroiled in a dispute with her uncle Thomas Daunt over the manor of

Owlpen Owlpen is a small village and civil parish in the Stroud district of Gloucestershire, England, set in a valley in the Cotswold hills. It is about east of Uley, and east of Dursley. The Owlpen valley is set around the settlement like an amphit ...

. He lost the case when he was accused of forging deeds before

Sir Edward Coke ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only a ...

, the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

. They had at least two children: *George Bridgeman *Anne Bridgeman, married John Winford Bridgeman was called to the bar in 1600. Most of his work was in the

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

, a report of whose proceedings between 1613 and 1621 he compiled. In 1613, he purchased the manor of Nympsfield, Gloucestershire, with Luke Garnon. He was counsel for the city of

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east of t ...

in 1614, and in 1615 he was made a

bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher ca ...

of the Inner Temple. In 1622, he served as counsel for

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal c ...

in a successful attempt to block the inclusion of Bishop Valentine Carey in the city's commission of the peace, and was engaged as counsel by Lord Zouche. 1623 saw a number of advancements for Bridgeman. He was appointed to the

Council of the Marches The Court of the Council in the Dominion and Principality of Wales, and the Marches of the same, commonly called the Council of Wales and the Marches () or the Council of the Marches, was a regional administrative body based in Ludlow Castle wi ...

on 30 June 1623, made a

in October 1623, and knighted on 7 December 1623. With the assistance of Sir Thomas Coventry, a fellow student at the Inner Temple, he was appointed to the vacant office of

Chief Justice of Chester The Justice of Chester was the chief judicial authority for the county palatine of Chester, from the establishment of the county until the abolition of the Great Sessions in Wales and the palatine judicature in 1830. Within the County Palatine ( ...

in February 1626.

Judicial activities in Wales

As Chief Justice of Chester, he retained, ''ex officio'', his place on the Council in the Marches, and regularly served as deputy for the two presidents during his tenure (

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

and Bridgewater). He regularly served as a justice of the peace in Wales and the Marches, and as recorder for Gloucester (1628),

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'S ...

Ludlow Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road (Great Britain), A49 road which ...

, and

Wenlock Wenlock may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Little Wenlock, a village in Shropshire * Much Wenlock, a town in Shropshire ** (Much) Wenlock (UK Parliament constituency) ** Wenlock Priory, a 7th/12th-century monastery * Wenlock Basin, a canal basi ...

. Bridgeman seems to have been assiduous and devoted to his numerous duties. In 1628, he and his son George jointly purchased Prinknash Park, near Gloucester, which then became the family home. In 1637, Bridgeman was compelled to take severe measures to end pilgrimages to St Winefride's Well,

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

, considered a hotbed of

recusancy Recusancy (from la, recusare, translation=to refuse) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign ...

by the government. He died in 1638 at

. He seems to have been a harsh and unpopular judge, as Ralph Gibbon composed the following

pasquinade A pasquinade or pasquil is a form of satire, usually an anonymous brief lampoon in verse or prose, and can also be seen as a form of literary caricature. The genre became popular in early modern Europe, in the 16th century, though the term had ...

upon his death:

Here lies Sir John Bridgeman clad in his clay;
God said to the devil, Sirrah, take him away.

He is buried in Ludlow's St Laurence's Church, where the monument to him and his wife is attributed to court sculptor Francesco Fanelli.

Notes

References

External links

Portrait of Sir John Bridgeman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridgeman, John 1560s births 1638 deaths English barristers Knights Bachelor Members of the Inner Temple Serjeants-at-law (England) 16th-century English judges 17th-century English judges People from Forest of Dean District People from Stroud District