Pelsall

Dorothy Bridgeman (nee Saunders) was the daughter of John Saunders who held office of Provost of Oriel College Oxford University.She married George Cradock owner of Caverswall Castle in North Staffordshire in 1638. George Cradock was Clerk of the Assizes for the Staffordshire Circuit he also owned Pelsall Hall and land in Pelsall, Wyrley, Goscote, Bloxwich & Essington.
Dorothy and George Cradock lived at Caverswall Castle and were highly respected and well thought of.
Tragically, George Cradock contracted smallpox, he died on April 16th 1643. Dorothy married for a second time in 1647 becoming the wife of Sir Orlando Bridgeman, who came from Wigan. Orlando and Dorothy Bridgeman are recorded as being the owners of Pelsall Hall in a document dated 1649.
Orlando Bridgeman was a man of moderate temperament, being a royalist lawyer for King Charles the second and a politician. Although from a wealthy family, Dorothy Bridgeman never forgot 'those less fortunate than herself' providing money for schools in many Staffordshire villages including Pelsall and Brocton and setting up charities for the poor.
She retired with her husband to Teddington Middlesex in 1672 after her husband was dismissed from the post of Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal for refusing to sign the Declaration of Indulgence. Orlando Bridgeman died on June 25th 1674. Dorothy Bridgeman remained in Teddington where she continued to provide for the poor and needy until the end of her life. She died in December 1696 and was buried on January 12th 1697 .