Life

Bradbury was born in Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

, and was educated for the congregational ministry Attercliffe Academy

Attercliffe Academy

Attercliffe Academy was a Dissenting academy set up in the north of England by Timothy Jollie.Richard Frankland had founded Rathmell Academy at Rathmell, but was forced to move several times. The school moved to Attercliffe, a suburb of Sheffield, Yorkshire, leaving it at the end of July 1689, in...

; Oliver Heywood

Oliver Heywood

Oliver Heywood was an English banker and philanthropist.Born in Manchester, the son of Benjamin Heywood, and educated at Eton College, Heywood joined the family business, Heywood's Bank in the 1840s....

 gave him books. He preached his first sermon on 14 June 1696, and went to reside as assistant and domestic tutor with Thomas Whitaker, minister of the independent congregation, Call Lane, Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

. From Leeds, in 1697, Bradbury went to Beverley

Beverley

Beverley is a market town, civil parish and the county town of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, located between the River Hull and the Westwood. The town is noted for Beverley Minster and architecturally-significant religious buildings along New Walk and other areas, as well as the Beverley...

, as a supply; and in 1699 to Newcastle-on-Tyne, first assisting Richard Gilpin

Richard Gilpin

Richard Gilpin M.D. was an English nonconformist minister and physician, prominent in the northern region.-Life:The second son of Isaac Gilpin of Strickland Ketel, in the parish of Kendal, Westmorland, and Ann, daughter of Ralph Tonstall of Coatham-Mundeville, County Durham, he was born at...

, and then Benjamin Bennet

Benjamin Bennet (Presbyterian minister)

Benjamin Bennet was an English Presbyterian minister.-Life:Bennet was born in Wellsborough, in Sibson, Leicestershire. He received his elementary education in his parish school...

, Gilpin's successor, both presbyterians. It seems that Bradbury expected a co-pastorate, and on William Turner's account his later influence helped split the congregation.

Bradbury went to London in 1703 as assistant to Galpine, in the independent congregation at Stepney

Stepney

Stepney is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in London's East End that grew out of a medieval village around St Dunstan's church and the 15th century ribbon development of Mile End Road...

. On 18 September 1704 he was invited to become colleague with Samuel Wright at Great Yarmouth

Great Yarmouth

Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...

, but declined. After the death of Benoni Rowe, Bradbury was appointed (16 March 1707) pastor of the independent congregation in New Street, by Fetter Lane. He was ordained 10 July 1707 by ministers of different denominations; his confession of faith on the occasion (which reached a fifth edition in 1729) showed uncompromising Calvinism

Calvinism

Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...

, expressed entirely in words of scripture. His brother Peter became his assistant. Bradbury took part in the weekly dissenting lectureships, delivering a series at the Weighhouse on the duty of singing (1708), and a sermon before the Societies for Reformation of Morals (1708).

Political sermons

Bradbury boasted of being the first to proclaim George I

George I of Great Britain

George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....

, which he did on Sunday, 1 August 1714, being apprised, while in his pulpit, of the death of Queen Anne by the agreed signal of a handkerchief. The report was current that he preached from 2 Kings ix. 34, ‘Go, see now this cursed woman and bury her, for she is a king's daughter;’ but perhaps he only quoted the text in conversation. Another story is to the effect that when, on 24 Sept., the dissenting ministers went in their black gowns with an address to the new king, a courtier asked, ‘Pray, sir, is this a funeral?’ On which Bradbury replied, ‘Yes, sir, it is the funeral of the Schism Act, and the resurrection of liberty.’

Robert Winter, D.D., Bradbury's descendant, is responsible for the statement that there had been a plot to assassinate him, and that the spy who was sent to Fetter Lane

Fetter Lane

Fetter Lane is a street in the ward of Farringdon Without in London England. It runs from Fleet Street in the south to Holborn in the north.The earliest mention of the street is "faitereslane" in 1312. The name occurs with several spellings until it settles down about 1612. There is no agreement...

 was converted by Bradbury's preaching. On the other hand it is said that Harley had offered to stop his mouth with a bishopric. Bradbury's political harangues were sometimes too violent for men of his own party. Daniel Defoe

Daniel Defoe

Daniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain and along with others such as Richardson,...

 may be the author of ‘A Friendly Epistle by way of reproof from one of the people called Quakers, to T. B., a dealer in many words,’ 1715, 8vo (two editions in same year).

The Salter's Hall controversy

With the reference of the Exeter controversy to the judgment of the dissenting ministers of London, a large part of Bradbury's vehemence passed from the sphere of politics to that of theology. The origin of the dispute belongs to the life of James Peirce

James Peirce

James Peirce was an English dissenting minister, the catalyst for the Salter's Hall controversy.-Early life:The son of John Peirce, he was born at Wapping about 1674. His parents, who were in easy circumstances, were members of the congregational church at Stepney, under Matthew Mead...

 (1674–1726), an intellectual leader of dissent against the positions of Edward Wells

Edward Wells

Edward Wells was an English mathematician, geographer, and controversial theologian.-Life:He was the son of Edward Wells, vicar of Corsham, Wiltshire. He was admitted to Westminster School in 1680, and elected to a scholarship at Christ Church, Oxford, in 1686. He graduated B.A. in 1690 and M.A...

 and William Nicholls

William Nicholls

William Nicholls was an English clergyman and theologian, known as an author on the Book of Common Prayer.-Life:He was the son of John Nicholls of Donington, now Dunton, Buckinghamshire. He was educated at St Paul's School under Thomas Gale, and went up with an exhibition to Magdalen Hall, Oxford,...

. Peirce, the minister of James's Meeting, Exeter

Exeter

Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...

, was accused, along with others, of favouring Arianism

Arianism

Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...

. The Western Assembly was disposed to salve the matter over by admitting the orthodoxy of the declarations of faith made by the parties in September 1718. But the body of thirteen trustees who held the property of the four Exeter meeting-houses appealed to London for further advice. After much negotiation the whole body of London dissenting ministers of the three denominations was convened at Salters' Hall

Worshipful Company of Salters

The Worshipful Company of Salters is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London, 9th in order of precedence. The Company originated as the Guild of Corpus Christi, which was granted a Royal Charter of incorporation in 1559...

 to consider a draft letter of advice to Exeter. Bradbury put himself in the front of the conservative party; the real mover on the opposite side was the whig politician John Shute Barrington, viscount Barrington, a member of Bradbury's congregation, and later the "Papinian

Aemilius Papinianus

Aemilius Papinianus , also known as Papinian, was a celebrated Roman jurist, magister libellorum and, after the death of Gaius Fulvius Plautianus in 205, praetorian prefect.-Life:...

" of Nathaniel Lardner's Letter on the Logos

Logos

' is an important term in philosophy, psychology, rhetoric and religion. Originally a word meaning "a ground", "a plea", "an opinion", "an expectation", "word," "speech," "account," "reason," it became a technical term in philosophy, beginning with Heraclitus ' is an important term in...

(1759).

The conference met on Thursday, 19 February 1719 (the day after the royal assent to the repeal of the Schism Act

Schism Act 1714

The Schism Act 1714 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. The Act stipulated that anyone who wished to keep a public or private school, or act as tutor, must first be granted a licence from a bishop. Also, he must conform to the liturgy of the Church of England and to have taken in the...

), when Bradbury proposed that, after days of fasting and prayer, a deputation should be sent to Exeter to offer advice on the spot; this was negatived. At the second meeting, Tuesday, 24 Feb., Bradbury moved a preamble to the letter of advice, embodying a declaration of the orthodoxy of the conference, in words taken from the Assembly's catechism. This was rejected by fifty-seven to fifty-three. Sir Joseph Jekyll

Joseph Jekyll

Sir Joseph Jekyll KS was a British barrister, politician and judge. Born to John Jekyll, he initially attended a seminary before joining the Middle Temple in 1680. Thanks to his association with Lord Somers Jekyll advanced rapidly, becoming Chief Justice of Chester in 1697 and a King's Serjeant in...

 witnessed the scene and once said "The Bible carried it by four". At the third meeting, 3 March, the proposition was renewed, but the moderator, Joshua Oldfield

Joshua Oldfield

Joshua Oldfield , was an English presbyterian divine.-Early life:He was the second son of John Oldfield or Otefield, and was born at Carsington, Derbyshire, on 2 December 1656. His father gave him his early training; he studied philosophy at Lincoln College, Oxford, and also at Christ's College,...

, would not take a second vote. Over sixty ministers went up into the gallery and subscribed a declaration of adherence to the first Anglican article, and the fifth and sixth answers of the Assembly's catechism. They then left the place amid hisses, Bradbury exclaiming "'Tis the voice of the serpent, and may be expected against a zeal for the seed of the woman". Principal John Chalmers, of King's College, Old Aberdeen, who was present at the third meeting, and in sympathy with Bradbury's side, reported to Edmund Calamy

Edmund Calamy (historian)

Edmund Calamy was an English Nonconformist churchman, divine and historian.-Life:A grandson of Edmund Calamy the Elder, he was born in the City of London, in the parish of St Mary Aldermanbury. He was sent to various schools, including Merchant Taylors', and in 1688 proceeded to the university of...

 that he had never seen nor heard of such strange conduct and management.

The nonsubscribing majority, to the number of seventy-three, met again at Salters' Hall on 10 March, and agreed on their advice, which was sent to Exeter on 17 March. Bradbury and his subscribers (61, 63, or 69) met separately on 9 March, and sent off their advice on 7 April. Apart from the preamble the two advices are almost identical; and the letter accompanying the nonsubscribers' advice declares their ‘sincere belief in the doctrine of the blessed Trinity and the proper divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, which they apprehend to be clearly revealed in the Holy Scriptures.’ Both advices preach peace and charity, while supporting the duty of congregations to withdraw from ministers who teach what they deem to be serious error.

The Exeter trustees had taken the matter into their own hands by formally excluding Peirce and his colleague from all the meeting-houses. Bradbury had his share in the ensuing pamphlet war, which was political as well as religious, for a schism in dissent was deprecated as inimical to the Whig interest.

Barrington left Bradbury's congregation, and joined that of Jeremiah Hunt, D.D., independent minister and nonsubscriber, at Pinners' Hall. Bradbury was brought to book by ‘a Dissenting Layman’ in ‘Christian Liberty asserted, in opposition to Protestant Popery,’ 1719, a letter addressed to him by name, and answered by ‘a Gentleman of Exon,’ in ‘A Modest Apology for Mr. T. Bradbury,’ 1719. But most of the pamphleteers passed him by as an angry man, to aim at William Tong

William Tong (minister)

William Tong was an English Presbyterian minister, at the heart of the subscription debate of 1718.-Life:He was born on 24 June 1662, probably at Eccles near Manchester, where his father was buried. His mother was early left a widow with three children...

, Benjamin Robinson

Benjamin Robinson

Benjamin Robinson , an English Presbyterian church minister, born at Derby in 1666, was a pupil of Samuel Ogden . He came to be a respected theologian and had his views published. He started a school in Findern in south Derbyshire.-Life:...

, Jeremiah Smith, and Thomas Reynolds, four presbyterian ministers who had issued a whip

Whip (politics)

A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...

 for the Salters' Hall conference in the subscribing interest, and who subsequently published a joint defence of the doctrine of the Trinity.

In 1720 an attempt was made to oust Bradbury from the Pinners' Hall lectureship; in the same year he started an anti-Arian Wednesday lecture at Fetter Lane. This did not improve matters. There appeared ‘An Appeal to the Dissenting Ministers, occasioned by the Behaviour of Mr. Thomas Bradbury,’ 1722; and Thomas Morgan

Thomas Morgan (deist)

-Biography:Morgan was first a dissenter preacher, then a practicer of healing among the Quakers, and finally a writer.He was the author of a large three-volume work entitled The Moral Philosopher. It is a dialogue between a Christian Jew, Theophanus, and a Christian deist, Philalethes...

 (the ‘Moral Philosopher,’ 1737), who had made an unusually orthodox confession at his ordination in 1716, but was now on his way to ‘Christian deism

Christian Deism

Christian Deism, in the philosophy of religion, is a standpoint that branches from Deism. It refers to a deist who believes in the moral teachings — but not divinity — of Jesus...

,’ wrote his ‘Absurdity of opposing Faith to Reason’ in reply to Bradbury's 5th of November sermon, 1722, on ‘The Nature of Faith.’ He had previously attacked Bradbury in a postscript to his ‘Nature and Consequences of Enthusiasm,’ 1719.

Later life

Returning to a former topic, Bradbury published in 1724, ‘The Power of Christ over Plagues and Health,’ prefixing an account of the anti-Arian lectureship. He published also ‘The Mystery of Godliness considered,’ 1726, 2 vols. (sixty-one sermons, reprinted Edinburgh 1795). In 1728 his position at Fetter Lane became uncomfortable; he left, taking with him his brother Peter, now his colleague, and most of his flock.

The presbyterian meeting-house in New Court, Carey Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields

Lincoln's Inn Fields

Lincoln's Inn Fields is the largest public square in London, UK. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a long series of entrepreneurs who took a hand in developing London", as Sir Nikolaus Pevsner observes...

, was vacant through the removal of James Wood (a subscriber) to the Weighhouse in 1727; Bradbury was asked, 20 October 1728, to New Court, and accepted on condition that the congregation would take in the Fetter Lane seceders and join the independents. This arrangement, which has helped to create the false impression that at Salters' Hall the presbyterians and independents took opposite sides as denominations, was made 27 November 1728, Peter continuing as his brother's colleague (he probably died about 1730, as Jacob Fowler succeeded him in 1731). Bradbury now published ‘Jesus Christ the Brightness of Glory,’ 1729, (four sermons on Hebrews i. 3); and a tract ‘On the Repeal of the Test Acts,’ 1732. His last publication seems to have been ‘Joy in Heaven and Justice on Earth,’ 1747, (two sermons), unless his discourses on baptism, from which Caleb Fleming

Caleb Fleming

Caleb Fleming, D.D. was an English dissenting minister and polemicist.-Life:Fleming was born at Nottingham on 4 November 1698. His father was a hosier; his mother, whose maiden name was Buxton, was a daughter of the lord of the manor of Chelmerton, Derbyshire. Brought up in Calvinism, Fleming's...

 drew ‘The Character of the Rev. Tho. Bradbury, taken from his own pen,’ 1749, are later. He was an effective as well as an unconventional preacher; the lampoon (about 1730) in the Blackmore papers is evidence of his ‘melodious’ voice, his ‘head uplifted,’ and his ‘dancing hands.’

Death and family

The stout Yorkshireman reached a great age. He died on Sunday, 9 Sept. 1759, and was buried in Bunhill Fields

Bunhill Fields

Bunhill Fields is a cemetery in the London Borough of Islington, north of the City of London, and managed by the City of London Corporation. It is about 4 hectares in extent, although historically was much larger....

. His wife's name was Richmond; he left two daughters, one married (1744) to John Winter, brother to Richard Winter, who succeeded Bradbury, and father to Robert Winter, D.D., who succeeded Richard; the other daughter married (1768) George Welch, a banker. Besides the publications noticed above, Bradbury printed several funeral and other sermons, including two on the death of Robert Bragge (died 1738; ‘eternal Bragge’ of Lime Street, who preached for four months on Joseph's coat).

Works

His ‘Works,’ 1762, 8vo, 3 vols. (second edition 1772), consist of fifty-four sermons, mainly political. Those sermons attracted much attention, from the freedom of their style and the quaintness of their titles. Among them were:

• ‘The Son of Tabeal [Is. vii. 5–7] on occasion of the French invasion in favour of the Pretender,’ 1708, 8vo (four editions);
• ‘The Divine Right of the Revolution’ [1 Chron. xii. 23], 1709, 8vo;
• ‘Theocracy; the Government of the Judges applied to the Revolution’ [Jud. ii. 18], 1712, 8vo;
• ‘Steadiness in Religion … the example of Daniel under the Decree of Darius,’ 1712, 8vo;
• ‘The Ass or the Serpent; Issachar and Dan compared in their regard for civil liberty’ [Gen. xlix. 14–18], 1712, 8vo (a 5th of November sermon, it was reprinted at Boston, U.S., in 1768);
• ‘The Lawfulness of resisting Tyrants, &c.’ [1 Chron. xii. 16–18], 1714, 8vo (5 Nov. 1713, four editions);
• Eikon basilike, the image of the Kingdom "Eἰκὼν Bασιλικὴ; a sermon [Hos. vii. 7]" preached 29 May, with Appendix of papers relating to the Restoration, 1660, and the present settlement,’ 1715, 8vo;
• ‘Non-resistance without Priestcraft’ [Rom. xiii. 2], 1715, 8vo (5 Nov.);
• ‘The Establishment of the Kingdom in the hand of Solomon, applied to the Revolution and the Reign of King George’ [1 K. ii. 46], 1716, 8vo (5 Nov.);
• ‘The Divine Right of Kings inquired into’ [Prov. viii. 15], 1718, 8vo;
• ‘The Primitive Tories; or … Persecution, Rebellion, and Priestcraft’ [Jude 11], 1718, 8vo (four editions).