BRADSHAW, John, president of the court which con-
demned Charles I., was descended of an ancient Lancashire
family, but the branch to which he belonged was seated
either in Cheshire or Derbyshire. Being appointed speaker
or president of the parliament under Cromwell, a guard
was assigned him for the safety of his person, together with
apartments in Westminster, a sum of £5000 sterling, and
considerable territorial domains. But he was not destined
long to enjoy the recompense of the judicial service he had
rendered; for, according to the pamphlets of the time pre-
served in the British Museum, he withdrew from parlia-
ment, and died in obscurity in 1659. At the Restoration
his body, with those of Cromwell and Ireton, was dis-
interred, suspended on the gallows at Tyburn, and burned.
Yet several collectors of anecdotes have circulated an idle
story that Bradshaw passed into the colonies (Barbadoes or
Jamaica) under a feigned name, and signalized himself in
various contests with the native tribes. (Gentleman's Ma-
gazine, vol. liv. p. 834.)