Thomas Bradley was born in 1596 or 1597, the son of Henry Bradley of

Wokingham Wokingham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It is the main administrative centre of the wider Borough of Wokingham. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 38,284 and the wider built-up area had a populati ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

and his wife, Barbara daughter of Walter Lane of

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

in the same county. He was educated at

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

and was admitted to the degree of

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

. On 5 March 1631, he married Frances the youngest daughter of

John Savile, 1st Baron Savile of Pontefract John Savile, 1st Baron Savile of Pontefract (1556 – 31 August 1630) was an English politician. He was M.P. for Lincoln (1586), Sheriff of Lincolnshire (1590), knight of the shire for Yorkshire (1597, 1614, 1624 and 1626), ''custos rotulorum'' ...

.Ackworth Local History , Dr Bradley
He was initially chaplain to

George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham ( ; 20 August 1592 – 23 August 1628), was an English courtier, statesman, and patron of the arts. He was a favourite and self-described "lover" of King James VI and I. Buckingham remained at the heigh ...

, whom he accompanied on trips to the

Île de Ré Île de Ré (; variously spelled Rhé or Rhéa; Poitevin dialect, Poitevin: ''ile de Rét''; , ) is an island off the Atlantic coast of France near La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime, on the northern side of the Pertuis d'Antioche strait. Its high ...

and to

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle'') is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department. Wi ...

''The sufferings of the clergy of the Church of England during the Great Rebellion''
John Walker, 1863, p. 79–80 and in 1628 he was appointed chaplain to

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

. He became Rector of

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

in 1630 and from 1643 he was additionally Rector of Ackworth. His parishes were in a strongly

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

part of

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

. During the Siege of Pontefract in 1644, he was a preacher to the

troops under Sir George Wentworth. In 1645 Parliamentarian troops occupied Ackworth and he was deprived of his livings. He underwent much suffering during the

Interregnum An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of revolutionary breach of legal continuity, discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one m ...

when along with his family he was ejected from their home.Ackworth local history , History of Ackworth – Battle of Ackworth section
It is generally supposed that he attended

at his

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in ...

on 30 January 1649. He was restored to the rectory of Ackworth following the end of the

Commonwealth of England The Commonwealth of England was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when Kingdom of England, England and Wales, later along with Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, were governed as a republi ...

in 1660.Some sources say he was restored in 1663 and these appear to be incorrect. In 1663 he erected (or restored) the church font, and there may be a misunderstanding on this account. He also appears to have become Chaplain to the King in 1663, perhaps another cause of confusion. In 1666 he founded two almshouses at Ackworth. He resigned from his livings in 1672 and died on 10 October 1673.

Notes

References

'Prebendaries: North Newbald', ''Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1541–1857'', vol. 4: York diocese (1975), pp. 48–9
*

Joseph Foster Joseph Foster may refer to: * Joseph Foster (politician) (born 1959), American politician in New Hampshire *Joseph Foster (genealogist) (1844–1905), English genealogist * Joey Foster (born 1982), British racing driver * Joey Foster Ellis (born 19 ...

, ''Alumni Oxonienses: the members of the University of Oxford, 1500–1714: their parentage, birthplace, and year of birth, with a record of their degrees: Being the matriculation register of the University'' (4 vols, Oxford; London: Parker, 1891–92), vol. 1

Publications

*''Comfort from the cradle, as well as from the crosse of Christ, 2 sermons'' (Oxford, 1650) *''A præsent for Cæsar, of 100000 l. in hand and 50000 l. a year'' (London, 1658) *''A sermon ad clerum'' (York, 1663) *''Nosce te ipsum, in a comparison between the first, and second Adam'' (York, 1668) *''Elijah's nunc dimittis. Or the authors own funerall sermons'' (York, 1669) *''Elijah's epitaph, and the motto of all mortalls'' (York, 1670) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, Thomas 1590s births 1673 deaths Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford Anglican writers 17th-century English Anglican priests English theologians People from Wokingham Clergy from Yorkshire Cavaliers