The BRADSHAW Family

William Bradshaw (c.1799 - 1842)

Family Tree        Family Group Sheet

The earliest Bradshaw ancestor so far discovered is William Bradshaw who was born in Lincolnshire around 1799.  The 1841 census finds him in Bridge Street, Louth, Lincolnshire as a 40(to 45) year old Shoemaker born in the same county.  His wife, Sophia, is there and is said to be 45 years old.  Their two sons Charles and Edwin are also there being recorded as 15 (to 19) and 6 respectively.  There are no other children, but there are two Ag Labs recorded as being at the same address on the night in question.

The Louth parish register records that William and Sophia were married on 7 December 1820 and at that time they were both "of this parish".  William signed the register but Sophia just made her mark.

Although William was recorded as a Shoemaker in the 1841 census, he was recorded as a deceased Blacksmith when his son Edwin was married in 1870 and as a Licensed Victualler in 1865 on Sophia's death certificate so he clearly played several roles during his lifetime.

William died in Louth on 23rd October 1842 and was buried in the churchyard of the Parish Church three days later on 26th October.

According to his son Edwin, who kept some family records in a family bible, William and Sophia had 6 children of which only Charles (b1823) and himself (b1834) survived to reach adulthood.  Edwin also believed that the family was a Leicester family who played a prominent part in the commonwealth.  However, when Charles II came to the throne in 1660 their property was confiscated and the family fled into the Lincolnshire marshes to a place called Summercoates.  It was their children who settled in Louth.  (This information was recorded on the flysheet of the family bible of which we have a poor quality photocopy as shown below.)