John Bridge / John Gawler Bridge

[JeffS]

Hi
I have just found your fascinating site whilst searching for information on John Bridge & John Gawler Bridge (of Rundell, Bridge & Rundell) and I wondered if anyone could point me towards sources of information? Reading posts it looks as though I need to find a copy of Grimwade as a starting point.

JGB was an ancestor, although no information (or money!) has come down through my side of the family. This obviously started my interest, but I have become intrigued by the history of the firm and the characters of John Bridge and Philip Rundell from the little that I have found to read

I have in the past managed to find a few odd articles on the firm, and there are now some snippets on the web, but a not a lot. A brief undated article by Charles Oman (Models for Royal Plate) talks of John Bridge being the impoverished cousin of a wealthy farmer, also John Bridge, of Wynford Eagle, Dorset. Farmer John had become a friend of George III and he reputedly introduced his cousin to the King, and the rest is history. However, many years of research has failed to find this familial link, other than at least one marriage between the two families, and I would be delighted if anyone knows any more?

I do hope this is not too off topic. I did enjoy the Philip Rundell postings and hope this is in a similar vein
Many thanks
Jeff

[dognose]

Hi Jeff,

Welcome to the Forum.

A good starting point would be John Culme's Nineteenth-Century Silver. It's an excellent book that contains a huge amount of information about the trade in general. There is quite a lot of detail regarding John Bridge and the firm of Rundell, Bridge & Rundell to be found within the pages of this book.

Keep us in touch with anything interesting that you come across during your research, and at some point in the future, it would be great if you could put pen to paper and write a potted history of your ancestor for the forum.

Regards Trev.

[JeffS]

Thanks Trev
I'll see if I can order a copy from the library and will, in the fullness of time, write up what I can find out
Best wishes
Jeff

[dognose]

Hi Jeff,

Another that you must add to your list is: Paul Storr, 1771-1844, Silversmith and Goldsmith by N. M. Penzer. It contains quite a lot of information on John Bridge.

Trev.

[Granmaa]

Hi Jeff,

John Culme also wrote a piece on Philip Rundell in the Silver Society Journal which might have something on your man.
A devoted attention to business: An obituary of Philip Rundell 2/91

Miles

[rmbridge]

John Bridge left much of his fortune to his 4 surviving nephews, John Gawler, Thomas, Robert and Alfred Charles.

You write that you descend from John Gawler his eldest nephew. Robert (1794-1857) the third nephew was my direct ancestor. So on the face of it you and I are distantly related.

I am retired and have spent many happy hours tracing the Bridge family back to Thomas Bridge of Little Bredy, Dorset (d. 1675/6) who removed from there and took a tenancy of the Tucking Mill at Piddletrenthide, Dorset and researching onward to the present generation.

When I commenced family research I thought that only a handful of Robert's descendants were what remains of the family but I recently learned there are those who flow from John Gawler, of which you are one.

Should this reach you please reply so we can take this further. Robin Miles Bridge

[dognose]

Hi Robin,

Welcome to the Forum and thank you for sharing the information regarding the Bridge family with us.

Trev.

[rmbridge]

Hi
I have just found your fascinating site whilst searching for information on John Bridge & John Gawler Bridge (of Rundell, Bridge & Rundell) and I wondered if anyone could point me towards sources of information? Reading posts it looks as though I need to find a copy of Grimwade as a starting point.

JGB was an ancestor, although no information (or money!) has come down through my side of the family. This obviously started my interest, but I have become intrigued by the history of the firm and the characters of John Bridge and Philip Rundell from the little that I have found to read

I have in the past managed to find a few odd articles on the firm, and there are now some snippets on the web, but a not a lot. A brief undated article by Charles Oman (Models for Royal Plate) talks of John Bridge being the impoverished cousin of a wealthy farmer, also John Bridge, of Wynford Eagle, Dorset. Farmer John had become a friend of George III and he reputedly introduced his cousin to the King, and the rest is history. However, many years of research has failed to find this familial link, other than at least one marriage between the two families, and I would be delighted if anyone knows any more?

I do hope this is not too off topic. I did enjoy the Philip Rundell postings and hope this is in a similar vein
Many thanks
Jeff

I have just learned how to reply.
(admin edit - see Posting Requirements )
as I too trace to John Bridge but via his yopungest brother Robert ( 1759-1836) and have been researching the history of the Bridge family of Piddletrenthide. Robin M. Bridge

[jeffs2]

I was delighted to see a reply from Robin Bridge - and sorry it has taken so long to find it
If you are still there Robin I would very much like to connect. I have a lot of information that I have accumulated over the years, which I would love to share (and cross check)
I could access my original account (JeffS) or seem to get a password reset, hence I have re-registered with a new user name
Best wishes
Jeff Sechiari

Hi
I have just found your fascinating site whilst searching for information on John Bridge & John Gawler Bridge (of Rundell, Bridge & Rundell) and I wondered if anyone could point me towards sources of information? Reading posts it looks as though I need to find a copy of Grimwade as a starting point.

JGB was an ancestor, although no information (or money!) has come down through my side of the family. This obviously started my interest, but I have become intrigued by the history of the firm and the characters of John Bridge and Philip Rundell from the little that I have found to read

I have in the past managed to find a few odd articles on the firm, and there are now some snippets on the web, but a not a lot. A brief undated article by Charles Oman (Models for Royal Plate) talks of John Bridge being the impoverished cousin of a wealthy farmer, also John Bridge, of Wynford Eagle, Dorset. Farmer John had become a friend of George III and he reputedly introduced his cousin to the King, and the rest is history. However, many years of research has failed to find this familial link, other than at least one marriage between the two families, and I would be delighted if anyone knows any more?

I do hope this is not too off topic. I did enjoy the Philip Rundell postings and hope this is in a similar vein
Many thanks
Jeff

I have just learned how to reply.
(admin edit - see Posting Requirements )
as I too trace to John Bridge but via his yopungest brother Robert ( 1759-1836) and have been researching the history of the Bridge family of Piddletrenthide. Robin M. Bridge

[silverly]

22 May 1834 John Bridge of Ludgate Hill in the City of London will proved at London. Reference: TNA PROB 11/1831/89

If you haven't already had a look at this will, there is a wealth of family information in it. It is available through the U K National Archives or Ancestry.com.

[jeffs2]

Thank you very much for flagging this up
I did, in fact, get a copy of this many years ago (in those paper based, pre internet days) and subsequently downloaded an electronic copy once that option became available - so useful to be able to zoom in when trying to read it (which I do struggle with). It is a real bonus that at the moment the national Archives are allowing free downloads of their digitised data like this

Thanks again, kind regards
Jeff