Richard W. Bridgman Explained

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.

Attribution

Notes and References

1. Web site: Register of baptisms, St. Botolph Aldgate 1753 - 1797 . 2023-04-19 . London Metropolitan Archives .
2. Web site: Sidell . Pauline . History of Grocers' Hall: Fascinating Fact 8 - Rogue Trader (from court minutes) . 2023-04-19 . Grocers' Company . en.
3. News: 24 January 1797 . The creditors who have proved their debts under a commission of bankrupt . 81 . The London Gazette . 13974 .
4. News: 4 August 1804 . Prisoners in His Majesties prison of the Fleet . 948 . The London Gazette . 15725 .
5. News: 19 January 1805 . The creditors of Richard Whalley Bridgman . 99 . The London Gazette . 15773 .
6. Book: Parish register of St Martin in the fields: Marriages 1794 - 1798 . 1794 . STM/PR/6/17.
7. Book: Parish register of St Swithin, Walcot: Burials 1819 - 1825 . 1819 . D/P/wal.sw/2/1/20.
8. Web site: 1-20, WALCOT PARADE, Non Civil Parish - 1395536 Historic England . 2023-04-19 . historicengland.org.uk . en.