Robert Haldane Bradshaw (1759–1835) was an English politician and agent to

Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater (21 May 1736 – 8 March 1803), known as Lord Francis Egerton until 1748, was a British nobleman from the Egerton family. He was the youngest son of the 1st Duke. He did not marry, and the dukedom expire ...

and, after the Duke's death, was the first Superintendent of the Bridgewater Trustees. The Trustees administered the Duke's estate, which included coal mines at

Worsley Worsley () is a village in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, which in 2014 had a population of 10,090. It lies along Worsley Brook, west of Manchester. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, there is evi ...

and the

Bridgewater Canal The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester. It was opened in 1761 from Wor ...

. Robert Haldane Bradshaw was the eldest son of Thomas Bradshaw, who became

Secretary to the Treasury In the United Kingdom, there are several Secretaries to the Treasury, who are Treasury ministers nominally acting as secretaries to HM Treasury. The origins of the office are unclear, although it probably originated during Lord Burghley's tenure ...

and his wife Elizabeth Wilson, daughter of Robert Wilson, of Woodford, Essex and merchant of London. It is possible that Robert was educated at Harrow and he later entered

public service A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...

. By 1800 he was agent to the Duke of Bridgewater. In 1802 the Duke appointed him as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for the pocket borough of

Brackley Brackley is a market town and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, bordering Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, from Oxford and from Northampton. Historically a market town based on the wool and lace trade, it was built on the inter ...

and he retained this position until it was

disenfranchised Disfranchisement, also called disenfranchisement, or voter disqualification is the restriction of suffrage (the right to vote) of a person or group of people, or a practice that has the effect of preventing a person exercising the right to vote. D ...

by the

Reform Act In the United Kingdom, Reform Act is most commonly used for legislation passed in the 19th century and early 20th century to enfranchise new groups of voters and to redistribute seats in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ...

of 1832. From 1825 until abolition he shared representation of the two-member seat with his own son,

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

, a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

captain, who committed suicide during his father's lifetime in 1833. On the death of the Duke in 1803, his estate was vested in three

Trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to ...

s, Bradshaw being appointed Superintendent. Bradshaw was totally responsible for running the estate, the other two being "dummy trustees". Following the death of the Duke, the income from the Bridgewater Trust went to his nephew

George Leveson-Gower Sir George Granville Leveson-Gower KBE (19 May 1858 – 18 July 1951), was a British civil servant and Liberal politician from the Leveson-Gower family. He held political office as Comptroller of the Household between 1892 and 1895 and later s ...

, the Marquess of Stafford (later the 1st Duke of Sutherland). On his death it was to go to Stafford's second son Francis Egerton. Bradshaw was reluctant to leave London, where his home was close to the Duke's house, Bridgewater House. While running the Bridgewater estate, he complained of being over-worked, although this was largely due to his inability to delegate. His personality was "intensely conservative", while he had the reputation of being a "formidable negotiator". In November 1831 he suffered a stroke, which affected his left arm and leg and which impaired his business judgement. The Duke of Sutherland died in 1833 and following a disagreement between Bradshaw and Francis Egerton, Bradshaw was persuaded to retire in 1834. He retired to Kings Langley and died there a year later.

References

Sources * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bradshaw, Robert Haldane 1759 births 1835 deaths People educated at Harrow School English businesspeople People of the Industrial Revolution Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832

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References