A story of love
Life story retold by Yota Dimitriadi
William Wood BRADSHAW was born on 22nd November 1801 in Bristol, the second son of John BRADSHAW of St James, Bristol (possibly major at the 55th Regiment of foot, 1st battalion) and Ann BRADSHAW (née REYNOLDS). William was christened on 28th February 1802 at St James, Bristol. We do not know much about his childhood though Arthur Lawrence Abel in his 1957 Bradshaw lecture comments that William had a happy upbringing, for in William’s devout booklet entitled ‘Thoughts on the Lord’s Prayer’, he testified to having “felt the endearing guidance of an earthly parent and often shared the sweets of his affectionate liberality ” and he bears “true testimony to the delights that spring from the consciousness of knowing that such a being exists in whom we place our fondest hopes and on whom we rely for advice in all the relations of life and this as securely as though our existence here were established upon a rock”.
One report refers to William Wood’s other middle names as Augustus Fitzwilliam, though this is not confirmed by either his burial records or the epitaph on his grave. The Berkshire burial records also spell his surname as Bradshawe (with an e at the end), but other contemporary sources, including earlier records and family documents, use the spelling Bradshaw. Such inconsistencies in names were common in the 19th century, when standardised spelling was less rigorously applied, and clerical errors in official documents were not unusual.
William began his medical training at Westminster Hospital, located opposite Westminster Abbey, where he walked the wards, which held twelve beds. He also studied at the Middlesex Hospital.
He qualified as MRCS (Member of the Royal College of Surgeons) at the age of 32. MRCS is a professional qualification awarded by the Royal College of Surgeons of England (in William’s case). It signifies that the individual has completed the necessary training and examinations to be recognised as a qualified surgeon. In the 19th century, obtaining the MRCS was a key milestone in a medical career. It often followed an apprenticeship and hospital-based training, and allowed the holder to practise surgery professionally.
William moved to Andover where he became a prosperous general practitioner. We find him living there in 1837 and the Salisbury and Winchester Journal reports him ‘again as the successful candidate of foreign university honours’ (Monday 18 September 1837).
William engaged in the life of the town. We have reports of him joining the celebrations for Queen Victoria’s marriage to Prince Albert on 10th February 1840. Hampshire Independent (Saturday 15 February 1840) reports that ‘[In Andover] The bells at the church rang merry peals throughout the day, and the Union Jack floated in the breeze on the church tower….A large party of gentlemen and tradesmen sat down to a splendid dinner at the Globe Inn, provided by Mr. Purchase is the most elegant and liberal style…the talented chairman, in a most appropriate speech, proposed health, happiness, and long life to her Most Gracious Majesty, and may the union she had that day formed not only prove a choice blessing to herself, but be the special means of affording peace and prosperity to our little island, and extend its benign influence to the utmost bounds of her Majesty’s dominions*—whieh was drunk with rapturous enthusiasm and many cheers. Dr. Bradshaw then sang the National Anthem in a pleasing and tasteful style, the whole of the company uniting.“
*note: such reports reflect the language and assumptions of its Victorian time and should be read with that historical context in mind.
On Thursday 26th March 1840 William was elected an honorary member of the Royal Jennerian Society of London, a London-based organisation aimed to promote smallpox vaccination, particularly for the poor, and to eradicate the disease through inoculation. The society operated until around 1852.
On 26th March 1841 William was accepted as ‘extra licentiate‘, at the Royal College of Physicians. It was a title awarded to medical practitioners who were permitted to practise medicine outside of London without being full Fellows or ‘Licentiates‘ of the College. These practitioners had not studied at Oxford or Cambridge, which were the two traditional universities recognised by the Royal College of Physicians in its early days. Maybe that inspired William to pursue a more formal academic degree in Oxford and apply for Fellowship at a later stage. An Oxford degree would have helped him secure prestigious positions (e.g., hospital posts, teaching roles, or court appointments), which may have suited his aspirations.
It is in Andover that William met his future wife, Mrs Sally Hall MATHEWS, an affluent widow fifteen years his senior. Little is currently known about Sally’s life, but records suggest that she lived at Prospect House near Andover, Hampshire. On 25 November 1841, William and Sally were married at St Marylebone Church, Marylebone, London. It was the same church where Charles Dickens baptised his fourth child, Walter, a few days later on 4 December 1841. Dickens used elements of the church interior for the christening scene in Dombey and Son.
Whether it was status or other reasons such as the difference in age that made William and Sally take this decision to marry in the capital is not currently known. However, their marriage certificate stated Marylebone as their place of residence at the time, which does not seem to be accurate.
After nine years in Andover in 1842 William and Sally moved to Reading. They lived for the rest of their lives in Portland Place and both died there. Their house had been built for about fifty years, when they moved and the block was known as ‘the old Red House’. It was incorporated in the New University College of Reading in 1905 and now it is private flats again. The Bradshaw’s house was the end one on the left of the row. In the 1851 census we find William and Sally living there with Elizabeth Steptoe, 29 years, cook, and Martha Elizabeth Britton, 21 years, maid.
In 1844, William put up for sale the cottage at Upper Clatford, Andover, where he had been living. The advert read:
In Reading William also got actively involved in the life of the town. He gave talks at the Mechanics Institution (for instance, on Tuesday 13 October 1857 ‘Health and Regiment’), became Vice-President of the Pathological Society and of the Royal Berkshire Hospital. He was also involved in charitable and community healthcare. In the 19th century access to medical care was often stratified by wealth, charity, and circumstance. The following advert gives an idea of William’s involvement in offering access to healthcare and is an example of Victorian-era charitable medical provision:
“G & L. COOPER beg to inform the inhabitants of this town that Dr. BRADSHAW kindly continues to give Medical Advice Gratis, every WEDNESDAY and SATURDAY morning, from 10 to 11 at their establishment, 70, London Street. Publicity is thus given to the fact, in the hope that the benevolent Institutions in the town may be partially relieved by such Families or Individuals, who, having advice gratis, can afford to pay a moderate charge for medicine.” Reading Mercury – Saturday 17 July 1852
We also find Dr Bradshaw offering his name in endorsing medical products. William was well-off and Sally’s inheritance from her husband also meant that he did not need the financial benefit that such endorsements may have brought. Whether such activity aimed to showcase his medical authority while promoting health innovations of his time, we will not know.
On Nov 14th, 1844, being then 43, William matriculated at the University of Oxford as a gentleman commoner of New Inn Hall, and was awarded the (or ‘was created’) MA on June 17th, 1847. He was presented for admission to the Vice Chancellor and Proctors by the Rev. Dr. Wellesley, principal of that hall. Whilst he was in residence, he became a member of the Oxford University Art Society.
William was described as being a quiet, home-loving, studious man, who diligently cultivated his mind both in literature and in science. Apart from medical publications [1], in 1845 he published the second edition of is book ‘Thoughts on the Lord’s Prayer’ , a reflective and devotional work exploring the meaning and spiritual significance of the Lord’s Prayer. It cost 2s and was printed in enamelled boards. William dedicated the book to Rev John Anthony CRAMER, D.D. the principal of New Inn Hall (1831–1847) where William was studying at the time.
The book received positive reviews. Reading Mercury reported ‘This elegant little work is, as the Author expresses in his Dedication to the Dean of Carlisle, ‘the emanation of a mind strongly imbued with the transcendent beauties of the Lord’s Prayer.’ Every passage this sublime composition is finely paraphrased in prose and poetic aspirations. The work is a unique specimen of typography and binding.’ You can read it on Google Books.
The book was published by John John Snare, a bookseller and publisher from Reading, whose life became overshadowed by the discovery of a previously lost Diego Velázquez painting at a country house auction in 1845. A lengthy court case over the ownership of the artwork followed, ultimately leading to Snare’s financial ruin.
In March 1849 William wrote to Reading Mercury describing an unusual and striking atmospheric event he witnessed:
“To the EDITOR of the READING MERCURY.
Sir,—On Tuesday evening, the 6th inst., at 20 minutes past 6 o’clock, an unusual phenomenon appeared in the atmosphere by the descent of a large Lunar Coruscation the circumference of which was at least 12 inches. It proceeded, to all appearance, to pass immediately from the centre of the moon, rushing through the atmospheric volume with great brilliancy until it arrived within about 50 yards of the earth, when it disappeared, leaving, on the instant, a splendour of light over an entire field, occupied by Mr. G. Shackel, in the London-road, which it enveloped with its flash. There were many witnesses to the beauty of this visitor, who gazed on it with wonder and delight, not unaccompanied with prophetic terror. I do not remember to have read or heard of a coruscation of such magnitude appearing so far from the northern hemisphere; it is on this account that I communicate the fact to you.
Yours faithfully,
WILLIAM WOOD BRADSHAW, M.D.”
William was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons on 12th January 1854 and was also a corresponding Member of the National Vaccine Institute. In September 1859 he was admitted as a member of the Royal College of Physicians.
By 1849 he was a medical referee for The Merchants’ and Tradesman Mutual Life Assurance Society. The Society’s legal history includes the notable case of Pritchard vs Merchants’ and Tradesman’s Mutual (1858), which centred on issues of policy renewal after the insured’s death. Mutual life assurance societies emerged to provide financial security to the families of middle-class workers and merchants in case of premature death. Unlike joint-stock or proprietary companies, mutual societies were owned by their members, not shareholders, and aimed to benefit policyholders by avoiding dividend payments and focusing on affordable protection.
William died in 1866. His death certificate stated as the cause of death “paralysis eleven months, softening of the brain”, a medical description used in the 19th/early 20th century to refer to progressive neurological decline. As a practising physician himself, this suggests a condition he likely understood well. It must have been devastating for Sally, and she made certain that his name would be remembered to this day (see info about her will below).
Reading Mercury reported on his death (Reading Mercury – Saturday 25 August 1866): With much regret we have to record the death of Dr. Bradshawe, of this town, which took place on tho 18th inst., after protracted illness. He was a D.C.L. and LL.D. of Cambridge; M.A. of Oxford, where he matriculated as gentleman commoner of New Inn Hall and a member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of England, and also M.D. of Erlangen. The deceased gentleman had been a contributor of professional subjects and miscellaneous articles to various publications. He was a kind and warm-hearted friend, and during residence of many years in this town, he was ever ready to alleviate the sufferings of the poor by affording gratuitous advice, and them his death will be especially felt.
His will with effects under £7000 was read on 15th September 1866.
According to A.L. Abel in his 1957 Bradshaw lecture, William’s tombstone inscription was in Greek and Latin and was translated for him by Mr Le Fanu; however, most of the writing has not survived today and we do not have any evidence of the Greek inscription. Dr Abel shared the following inscription:
LIFE IS SHORT. REMEMBER DEATH. BENEATH LIES WHAT WAS MORTAL OF
WILLIAM WOOD AUGUSTUS FITZ-MILTON BRADSHAW
M.A.OXFORD, D.C.L., LL.D.CAMBRIDGE, M.D.ERLANGEN,
M.R.C.P., F.R.C.S., F.R.C.M.
WHO MIGRATED FROM THE WORLD
ON 18 AUGUST IN THE YEAR OF THE LORD 1866
AND OF HIS AGE THE 66TH.
OUR BIRTH IS NOT ALL. SUCH AS HE WILL NEVER FADE.
However, what we have recorded from the Berkshire Family History Society is the following:
Qui de seculo mcravit ante diem XV Kal: Sept an domm MDCCCLXVI
Aetat: Suae LXVI
Non solum nati fuimus aequus nunquam deflorescet
It translates as: “He departed from this world on the 15th day before the Kalends of September, in the year of our Lord 1866, at the age of 66. Not only were we born for the sun: fairness (or justice) will never fade.”
Sally Hall Bradshaw (nee Dowling)
Sally Hall was the third child of Thomas DOWLING and Kitty HALL, who were married on 5 April 1784 at St Peter Church, Hurstbourne Tarrant, Hampshire where Kitty was originally from. The wedding was announced on the Reading Mercury.
Sally’s siblings were: Thomas (baptised 28 March 1785), Kitty (baptised 26 March 1786), George (baptised 22 June March 1788- died 1836) and Mary Anne (baptised 26 December 1791). Sally was baptised on 8 April 1787 at Upper Clatford.
The family lived in Upper Clatford, Hampshire, where Thomas is believed to have originated. It appears that both Thomas and Kitty spent their lives in the village. Kitty died on Thursday 9 April 1807, after a long and painful illness, which she is recorded as having borne with great Christian fortitude, a reflection of the family’s strong Anglican faith. Thomas died in 1838 with his son Thomas being one of the executors of his will.
Sally’s father, Thomas, was registered as a yeoman, although he was listed as a gentleman on Sally’s marriage certificate. We do not know how Sally met her first husband Peter MATHEWS who was 10 years older than her but they married in London on 22nd April 1812 at St Martin in the fields, Westminster. Her sisters Kitty and Mary Anne were witnesses along with Charles [surname difficult to decipher]. The reasons for marrying there remain unclear. It may have been status or other reasons.
We also do not know much about Peter currently but he was wealthy if we judge by his will as well as the number and quality of household items sold after his death (e.g. in the Oxford Journal – Saturday 18 May 1839). He is mentioned as a landowner in 1814 when he purchased the Manor of Southbury (then Sowberry) and Southberry Farm in Moulsford (Oxford Journal – Saturday 05 March 1814). Between 1827-1829 we found Peter as the Treasurer of the Whitchurch, Basildon and Streatley Association for Prosecuting Persons guilty of Felonies, Burglaries, Larcenies and Thefts. Under English Law during the Georgian period, the capture and prosecution of criminals was largely left to their victims to deal with. One solution adopted by the worthy citizens of many parishes was to set up Associations whose members of the community would pay a subscription (one guinea in the case of Peter’s Association) which would in turn pay for and support the victim in his charge against the felon at the local Magistrates court. In rural parishes, such as Badwell Ash, most crime was rural crime and most of the crimes were associated with the landed estates, farming and farms. So the logical step was to enlist the local land owners and farming fraternity to form an Association to protect themselves from crime. An experience Peter had when in 1818 young shepherd named George Holloway of Aston stole 18 ewe sheep from him. His name is not mentioned in the association from 1830 onwards.
They lived in the Manor of Southbury in Moulsford where on 26th November 1836 newspapers reported that Sally’s last surviving brother, George, died at their house at the age of 48.
Peter died at the age of 60 and his funeral was on 24 Jan 1837 at St Peter’s and St Paul’s in Yattendon. The year 1837 was the first year of official government death registration in England and Wales, marking the transition from parish records to a national civil registration system. The will of Peter Mathews, Yeoman of Moulsford , Berkshire was signed on 31st December 1836 and proved on 13 April 1837. Peter may have known that he was dying and prepared his will. It must have been hard for Sally whose brother died in their house in November 1836.
Managing the estate may have not been something that Sally wanted or could do. Sally was financially comfortable and a woman of independent means as seen from the money left in her own will. She moved back to Upper Clatford, Andover. However, she must have had pleasant memories of Mouslford as she left a bequest for poor parishioners in her will. The DOWLING family kept connections with Moulsford as her sister Kitty was also married there.
Sally died on 19 July 1880, fourteen years after William at the age of 94. Her funeral took place on 22 July 1880 and she is buried with him. The inscription, above that of William’s reads:
SALLY HALL BRADSHAW
the 19th July 1880 aged 94 years
Removed from all the cares and pains of life
Here rests the pleasing friend and faithful wife
Ennobled by the virtue of her mind
Constant in coolness and in death resigned
In her will, dated 6 September 1875, she had left a substantial and thoughtful legacy that continues to be experienced today. Her will was proved on 26 August 1880. At the time of probate, her personal estate was sworn under £35,000. Sally had been living at Portland Place in Reading and was survived by her executors, Richard Fisher and William Wallace Cowslade, owner of the Reading Mercury.
Her bequests reflected both her philanthropic spirit and her desire to honour her late husband’s medical legacy as an act of her undying love for him. She left:
- £3,000 in Three Per Cent Consolidated Bank Annuities to the Association for Promoting the General Welfare of the Blind, Euston Road;
- £1,000 each in similar annuities to the Royal Hospital for Incurables, the Royal Berkshire Hospital, the Winchester County Hospital, the Westminster Hospital, and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals;
- £500 in similar annuities to the Reading Dispensary;
- £1,500 to the Royal National Life-Boat Institution for the establishment and maintenance of three life-boats, which she requested be named “Faith,” “Hope,” and “Charity”. The Cloughey Lifeboat Station was opened by the Royal National Life-Boat Institution (RNLI) in 1885. “The ‘Faith’, ON 94 was its first lifeboat and was built at a cost of £363 by Woolfe & Sons of Shadwell in London. ‘Hope’ ON 82 was stationed in Castletown and ‘Charity’ ON Drogheda, both in 1885. ON 94 was a 34ft x 8’3″, 10 oared self-righting lifeboat. The boat’s launching carriage was built by Napton at a cost of £129. Before coming to Cloughey lifeboat ON94 went through harbour trials in June 1884 and was then exhibited at the ‘International Fisheries Exhibition’ of 1884. She was shipped to Cloughey from London on 18th March 1885 and arrived a few days later.” (RNLI Lifeboats).
- £1,000 each to the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Surgeons, to endow annual lectures in medicine and surgery, respectively. These were to be known as the Bradshaw Lectures, and were to be delivered each year on August 18 in memory of her late husband, who had been a respected medical figure. The lecturer is appointed by the president and the honorarium is £20. They still take place every two years.
She stipulated that the lectures should be on topics related to medicine or surgery, leaving the selection of the lecturer to the President of each respective College. Her aim, according to a contemporary account in The Lancet, was not to impose strict guidelines but simply to maintain her husband’s good name through a meaningful contribution to medical science—“a science he had loved”—and to honour the happiness she had found in their marriage.
Additionally, £1,000 was placed in trust to provide annual income to be distributed each Ascension Day among the poor parishioners of Upper Clatford, Andover, with preference for the aged and poor of ill health. A similar bequest was made for the poor parishioners of Moulsford, near Wallingford. She directed that marble tablets be installed in the churches of both parishes to record these charitable gifts.
Her will also included numerous personal legacies to relatives, friends, and servants, with the residue of her estate left to her sister, Mary Ann Pouncey, and her niece, Kate Sarah King.
The Bradshaw Lecture at the Royal College of Surgeons, first delivered on 13 December 1882 by Sir James Paget, quickly became one of the College’s most prestigious honours. Until 1993, it was given annually, and is now a biennial lecture, alternating with the Hunterian Oration. Traditionally delivered by a senior member of the College Council, on or about the day preceding the second Thursday of December, it remains a significant platform for surgical scholarship. The corresponding Bradshaw Lecture at the Royal College of Physicians also continues as a distinguished annual event in honour of Dr. Bradshaw.
A portrait of William was shared in Sir Rickman J Godlee’s Bradshaw Lecture for 1907.
Sally’s trust continued in the 21st century. In Berks and Oxon Advertiser on Friday 31 March 1933 a letter was read from the Charity Commission to the effect that on the application of the Trustees of the Sally Hall Bradshaw and William Sambourne Charities, it had been proposed to effect a sale of a piece of meadow land containing 3 acres 1 rood 16 poles or thereabouts, known as Little Rumford, bounded on the east by the River Thames, in the parish of Streatley.
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[1] William Wood Bradshaw publications:- “On the Use of Cod-liver Oil in Chronic Rheumatism.” – Prov. Med. and Surg. Jour., 1845, 753. “On Chronic Abdominal Abscess.” – Lancet, 1846, ii, 529. Various articles over the signature Beta in (Bentley’s ?) Miscellany and other periodicals.
Additional sources
Abel, A.L. (1957). Diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the large intestine. Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 1957 Jun;20(6):329-48. PMID: 13445071; PMCID: PMC2413504. Full text
Plarr’s Lives of the Fellows, Royal College of Surgeons, England, created: 6 May 2010
Section 55, Row L, Plot 6