3xGrt grandparents: John and Elizabeth (nee Day) Bradden
John and Elizabeth Bradden (nee Day) were my 3xgreat grand-parents. John is consistently recorded
as a labourer.
John was born in around 1738, however, where he was born is a mystery. There is no record of his
baptism in the International Genealogical Index and his family do not feature in any Settlement or
Removal Orders. The Hitchin Parish Records have been checked, and although legible, John’s
baptism is not noted. However, a little information about Elizabeth Day may be deduced. She was
born in around 1744 and again her baptism is not recorded at Hitchin. But their son, William, married
Rose Day in 1804 and John and Elizabeth named a daughter, Rose. Perhaps William and Rose were
related.
John and Elizabeth married at St Mary’s, Hitchin on 31 July 1772:
As John is recorded in the Hitchin Militia Lists from 1775 until 1782, they were living in the town
during this time. But in 1784/5 John is noted as living at Charlton, Herts - which indicates a move
there in around 1783.
Charlton is a small hamlet lying two miles to the north of Preston and about a mile south-west of
Hitchin. The River Hiz rises nearby and formed a millpond. There was a mill at Charlton until late into
the nineteenth century. The Braddens lived in the southernmost cottage in Charlton, on the road to
Preston.
*
= the location of the Bradden’s home.
Above, is the Charlton mill pond
*
The children of John and Elizabeth Bradden
Of George Bradden (born 1795)
20 January 1835
19 June 1862
Of Henry Bradden (1798 - 1873)
Henry was the landlord of The Chequers inn, Preston from around 1841 until the early 1870s.
19 February 1842
1826: Henry Bradin of Hitchin, labourer, for
stealing 3 bushels of oats, value 7s from Thomas
Oakley of Preston, farmer. Acquitted.
