Richard W. Bridgman

For the 20th-century British peer and businessman, see Richard Bridgeman.

Richard Whalley Bridgman (c.1761–1820) was an English attorney and writer on law.

Life

Richard Whalley Bridgman was baptised on 9 March 1762, the son of Richard Bridgman and Sarah Whalley.[1] He was an attorney and was employed as a clerk of the Grocers' Company in 1787.[2] By June 1796 he had embezzled over £2,317, which he could not repay. He was declared a bankrupt[3] and was subsequently imprisoned in Fleet jail before his release in 1804.[4][5]

He was already a widower by 1797 and on 29 August 1797 he married Ann Lanty of Greenwich at St Martin in the fields.[6] He died at Bath, Somerset 16 November 1820, in his fifty-ninth year. He was buried at St. Swithin, Walcot on 22 November 1820.[7] The burial register states he lived in Walcot Parade (No.2), which survives as a grade 2 listed building.[8]

Works

He left the following works, published between 1798 and 1813:

• Thesaurus Juridicus; containing the Decisions of the several Courts of Equity, &c., systematically digested from the Revolution to 1798, 2 vols. 1799–1800.
• Reflections on the Study of the Law, 1804.
• Dukes' Law of Charitable Uses, &c., 1805.
• An Analytical Digested Index of the Reported Cases in the several Courts of Equity, 1805, 2 vols.; 2nd edition, 1813, 3 vols.; 3rd edition, edited by his son, R. O. Bridgman, 1822, 3 vols.
• Supplement to the Analytical Digested Index, &c., 1807.
• A Short View of Legal Bibliography, to which is added a Plan for classifying a Public or Private Library, 1807.
• A Synthesis of the Law of Nisi Prius, 1809, 8vo.
• Judgment of the Common Pleas in Benyon against Evelyn, 1811.
• An annotated edition of Sir Francis Buller's Introduction to the Law relative to Trials at Nisi Prius, 1817.

References

• "Bridgman, Richard Whalley" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

1. "Register of baptisms, St. Botolph Aldgate 1753 - 1797". London Metropolitan Archives. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
2. Sidell, Pauline. "History of Grocers' Hall: Fascinating Fact 8 - Rogue Trader (from court minutes)". Grocers' Company. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
3. "The creditors who have proved their debts under a commission of bankrupt". The London Gazette. No. 13974. 24 January 1797. p. 81.
4. "Prisoners in His Majesties prison of the Fleet". The London Gazette. No. 15725. 4 August 1804. p. 948.
5. "The creditors of Richard Whalley Bridgman". The London Gazette. No. 15773. 19 January 1805. p. 99.
6. Parish register of St Martin in the fields: Marriages 1794 - 1798. 1794.
7. Parish register of St Swithin, Walcot: Burials 1819 - 1825. 1819.
8. "1-20, WALCOT PARADE, Non Civil Parish - 1395536 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 19 April 2023.

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Bridgman, Richard Whalley". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.