Thomas (1) Bradbury, (Thomas (8) in the English pedigree), second son of Wymond and Elizabeth (Gill neeWhitgift) Bradbury, was baptized at Wicken-Bonant, Essex County, England, on the last day of Febryar, 1610-11, as appears by the parish register. Early in 163 he appeared at Agamenticus, now York, Maine, as the agent or steward of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, the proprietor of the Province of Maine. He was one of the original proprietors of the ancient town of Salisbury, Mass., one of the earliest settlers there, and was one of the foremost citizens for a period of more than half a century. He was made a freeman in 1640, held at various times the offices of schoolmaster of the town, town clerk, justice of the peace, deputy to the general court, county recorder, associate judge and captain of the military company, and always filled these important positions with credit to himself and satisfaction to the public. For a recording officer he was peculiarly fitted by his tastes and acquirements. He wrote an easy, graceful and legible hand, and had a clear and concise style of expression. His chirography may still be seen in numerous official documents on file in the archives of Essex County, Mass., and also at Exeter, N.H. In 1636, Mr. Bradbury became a grantee of Salisbury, and that year married Mary, daughter of John and Judith Perkins, of Ipswich Note 1. In the days of the witchcraft delusion, she was tried as a witch and convicted, but escaped punishement. Mr. Bradbury died March 16, 1695 and his widow died Dec. 20, 1700.

The Bradbury family is an old family in England. Some say the Bradbury and True Ancestries with their Allied Lines are recorded back to Charlemagne who was born in the year 747 and was the King of France and the Holy Roman Emperor of the West, and even further back to Clovis the Riparian, Frankish King of Cologne, who was living in AD 420. Although we have not examined the records ourselves, some books date the records back to the year 1400 where a Robert de Bradbury was living at Ollerset in the parish of Glossop in Derbyshire. Eight generations after his birth, we find our immigrant ancestor, Thomas Bradbury, who was baptized in Wicken Bonant, a small parish in the County of Essex, England, on 28 February 1610-11; died in Salisbury, MA, 16 March 1694-95; son of Wymond and Elizabeth (Whitgift) Bradbury; married in Ipswich, MA, circa 1636, Mary Perkins, baptized in Hillmorton, Warwickshire, England, 3 September 1615, died in Salisbury, MA, 20 December 1700, daughter of John and Judith (Gater) Perkins.

Thomas Bradbury's mother, Elizabeth (Whitgift) Bradbury, was born in England in March of 1574 and was the daughter of William and Margaret (Bell) Whitgift of Clavering, Essex, England. She was a niece of John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury, who placed the crowns on the heads of King James I and Queen Anne during their Coronation ceremonies. Also, she was the niece of Ann Bell, wife of Sir Ferdinando Gorges. Sir Ferdinando was granted by the King large tracks of land in southern Maine and southern New Hampshire. He sent his grand nephew, Thomas Bradbury, who was our immigrant ancestor, to New England in 1634 as his agent. In this capacity, Thomas drew up some of the earliest deeds in both states.

Thomas Bradbury was a leader of his community for over fifty years. He was made "freeman" in May of 1640 and was chosen schoolmaster in 1652 at the salary of 20 pounds, half paid in corn. "In 1641, he had been appointed by the General Court Clerk of the Writs, for Salisbury (MA), with the functions of a Magistrate to Execute all sorts of legal processes in that place. He was Deputy for many years and a Commissioner for Salisbury empowered to act in all criminal cases and bind over offenders where it was proper, to higher courts, to take testimony upon oath and to give persons in marriage. He was required to keep records of all his doings. If the parties agreed to that effect, he was authorized to hear and determine cases of every kind and degree without the intervention of a jury. The towns north of the Merrimack River and all beyond, now within the limits of New Hampshire, constituted the County of Norfolk and Thomas Bradbury, for a long series of years, was one of its Commissioners and Associate Judges. From the first, he was conspicuous in military matters having been commissioned by the General Court in 1648 Ensign of the Training Band of Salisbury, MA. He rose to its Command and in the later portion of his life was universally spoken of as Captain Thomas Bradbury. All along, the records of the General Court for half a century demonstrated the estimation in which he was held; various important trusts and special services requiring integrity and ability being from time to time committed to him...." (this information is from Upham's work on the Salem Witchcraft.) We found it in the book compiled by Charles Wesley True, Jr., Some Henry True Descendants on the Frontier, p. 25. Captain and Mary Bradbury were second on the list of Salisbury, MA, church members in 1687. At his death, he left 5 pounds for the use of the poor of the town, the first record of the town having been the recipient of a public bequest. This information was taken from a paper titled Salisbury Earliest Settlers by John Q. Evans read at a meeting of the Town Improvement Society held at Salisbury, MA, 17 June 1896.