Sir Orlando Bridgeman, 2nd Baronet
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Sir Orlando Bridgeman, 2nd Baronet (c. 1679 – 10 June 1738) was a British politician. The son of Sir Orlando Bridgeman, 1st Baronet and Mary Cave was educated at Rugby School, Warwickshire and Trinity College, Oxford, where he matriculated in 1694. On 20 April 1701, he succeeded to his father's baronetcy. Bridgeman was Member of Parliament (MP) for Calne from 1715 to 1722 and for Lostwithiel from February 1724 to 1727. He was further Member of Parliament for Blechingley from 1727 to 1734 and for Dunwich from 1734 to 1738. Between 1716 and 1727, he was Auditor-General to the Prince of Wales, and between 1727 and 1738 Commissioner of Trade. On 15 April 1702, he married Susanna Dashwood, daughter of Sir Francis Dashwood, 1st Baronet. They had one son, Francis Bridgeman.
In 1737, he was nominated Governor of Barbados, but disappeared before sailing. He left farewell letters to his family and to King George II. On the 10 June 1738, a body was found drowned in the Thames near Limehouse. Identified as Bridgeman, although the body had been disfigured by the water, he was buried in St Nicholas, Gloucester, on 5 December 1745. His estate was administered in 1751.
Today some scholars suspect that he faked his death to escape from his creditors. Bridgeman had built a new house at Bowood Park, Wiltshire, so that he got deeply into debt and the Chancery Courts started with proceedings against him in 1737. His principal creditor Richard Long acquired ownership of Bowood after a Chancery Decree in his favour in 1739.[1] The diary of the 1st Earl of Egmont says the following:
Sir Orlando Bridgeman who, instead of going to his government of Barbados conferred on his last winter, made his escape (as he hoped) from the world, to avoid his creditors, by pretending to make himself away, and accordingly gave it out that he had drowned himself, was ferreted out of his hole by the reward advertised for whoever should discover him, and seized in an inn at Slough, where he had ever since concealed himself.
If Bridgeman had survived, then his son Francis did not succeed to the baronetcy and instead it became extinct with the probable death of the 2nd Baronet in 1745 or 1746.
[edit] References
- ^ A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 17, D.A. Crowley 2002
- thePeerage. Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
- Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by William Northey William Hedges |
Member of Parliament for Calne with Richard Chiswell 1715–1722 |
Succeeded by Benjamin Haskins-Stiles George Duckett |
| Preceded by Lord Stanhope Marquess of Hartington |
Member of Parliament for Lostwithiel with Henry Parsons 1724-1727 Sir William Stanhope 1727 Darrell Trelawny 1727 February 1724–1727 |
Succeeded by Anthony Cracherode Edward Knatchbull |
| Preceded by Sir William Clayton Henry Herbert |
Member of Parliament for Blechingley with Sir William Clayton 1727–1734 |
Succeeded by Sir William Clayton Sir Kenrick Clayton |
| Preceded by Sir George Downing Thomas Wyndham |
Member of Parliament for Dunwich with Sir George Downing 1734–1738 |
Succeeded by Sir George Downing William Morden |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by James Dotin, acting |
Governor of Barbados 1737–1738 |
Succeeded by Humphrey Howarth |
| Baronetage of England | ||
| Preceded by Orlando Bridgeman |
Baronet (of Ridley) 1701–1738 |
Succeeded by Francis Bridgeman |
