BRIDGEMAN, GEORGE THOMAS ORLANDO (1823-1895), cleric, antiquary and genealogist;
b. 21 Aug. 1823, second son of the 2nd earl of Bradford, a descendant of Sir Orlando Bridgeman (q.v. in D.N.B.), keeper of the seal under Charles II; the family were connected by marriage with Shropshire, and with the Myddeltons (qq.v.) of Chirk. Educated at Harrow, and Trinity (Cantab.), where he graduated in 1845, he took orders, became rector in Shropshire, and in 1864 received the family rectory of Wigan, remaining there till his death, 25 Nov. 1895. He wrote a book on the history of Wigan. But he was also keenly interested in his family connections with the Welsh Border. He contributed to Arch. Camb., 1863, a paper on ‘The Ancient Lords of Mechain,’ and to Mont. Coll., 1868, two papers, ‘The Princes of Upper Powys’ and ‘The Welsh Lords of Kerry and Arwystli.’ In 1876 he published his very useful History of the Princes of South Wales — not a history in the usual sense but rather a storehouse of genealogical information, hardly very readable but providing many facts not easily to be found elsewhere.
Bibliography:
- Burke's…Peerage;
- Venn, Alumni Cantab.;
- Arch. Camb., 1877, 243-8.
Author:
Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, C.B.E., D.Litt., Ll.D., F.S.A., (1881-1969), Bangor.
