SAVAGE SEDUCTION OF POOR CATHERINE
from:
Stockport Heritage Magazine Vol.1. Issue Nr. 8.
Pat Seddon tells a tale of a betrothal which went wrong
BRADSHAW HALL LANE is today a pleasant tree shaded byway leading off Wilmslow Road, Cheadle, just beyond its junction with Finney Lane and Etchells Road. At the far end where it meets Bruntwood Lane, stand several blocks of modern dwellings, but until some years ago their site was occupied by one of the more interesting - historically speaking - of Cheadle's old halls.
It was in 1877 that Bradshaw Hall was demolished and replaced by the present buildings, and until that date it had stood in somewhat solitary splendour for over 400 years. As was usual with local halls, in its later years it had considerably diminished in size and undergone several transformations in the name of modernisation - only the external shape and the porch with its date-stone recalled its pre-Elizabethan origins.
The original owners of Bradshaw were the Savage family who had been lords of half the Manor of Cheadle - later known as Cheadle Moseley - since 1368. It was during the reign of Henry VIII that Sir John Savage built Bradshaw, his 'manor house', although not necessarily for his own occupation. He was the possessor of several houses and in comparison Bradshaw was a very modest building. In 1548 he leased it to James Kelsall for "thritty and seyven shyllynges, thre penyes, half peny - for thre score yeres", along with a water mill. The house was already tenanted by Richard Chedill, a descendant of the family who owned the original manor of Cheadle, but by 1550 James Kelsall had taken possession and placed his initials and a datestone over the porch to prove it. The Kelsalls remained in occupation until the 19th century.
Meanwhile, Sir John Savage, an extremely wealthy man, was engaged in building a magnificent mansion for himself at Clifton, near Frodsham, which when completed in 1568 was named Rocksavage. Unfortunately this hall fell into decay at an early date and the only likeness now remaining is Brereton Hall, built as a replica of Rocksavage by Sir John's son-in-law, Sir William Brereton. Bradshaw Hall thus outlived Rocksavage by almost two centuries.
A romantic interlude at Bradshaw occurred in the 17th century when Radcliffe Kelsall of Bradshaw, a younger son of a second marriage and therefore virtually penniless, abducted a young Cheadle girl. Catherine Fallowes was only sixteen when she was courted by the twenty-year-old Radcliffe who appears to have been something of a charmer and wooed her with "tokens of love and affection" and the connivance of his brother James, who also had an eye on her inheritance. Catherine was seduced by Radcliffe's charms in more ways than one and happily accepted gifts of a gold ring and gloves, and for some time she was content to play the part of a romantic heroine and bask in his attentions both at her mother's house and at Bradshaw.
Things turned sour however, when the two brothers tried to force her into a betrothal and secret marriage. Having obtained a marriage licence from Chester to marry "any place except Chedle Church" and falsely sworn that her mother, and her guardian William Nicholls, rector of Cheadle, consented to the same, James Kelsall abducted Catherine and carried her to a friend's house in Stretford where he attempted to betroth her to Radcliffe by breaking a silver groat between them and exchanging rings and vows. By now thoroughly frightened, Catherine tried to extricate herself from the affair but ended up in court at Chester when the two men claimed a breach of marriage contract.
The ensuing case delighted the local gossips as one witness after another testified to the wrongdoings of the two lovers in an attempt to blacken the characters of all concerned. Their main trysting place hed been the lodge of Catherine's home where they spent "many howres together, clipped and kissed each other - and carryed themselves loveingly and familiarly together". Catherine was said to have "shutt the doore and tyed it with her garter that none should come in". They had been observed in compromising circumstances both in a cornfield and at Bradshaw Hall where they had "layne upon a bedd - knowne each other as man and wife". Catherine's servant had been given "strong drink" by Radcliffe so that she was in no state to protect her charge.
After much long-winded testimony the defence charged Radcliffe with bribing the witnesses - most of them were very poor, but the main villain in the case was James Kelsall, who amongst other things was said to be a sheep stealer, a frequenter of ale houses and a common drunkard.
Unfortunately, the outcome of the case is unknown as the final documents are missing, and here we have to leave Catherine and Radcliffe. By now the Civil War was fast approaching and could have interrupted proceedings - we shall never know. There is no record of a marriage between the couple, nor is there a record of Radcliffe's burial amongst the Kelsalls at Cheadle Church. A likelihood is that the two brothers may have joined the Parliamentary forces of Sir William Brereton of Handforth, a near neighbor, and perhaps have been killed in battle or found their fortunes elsewhere.
In 1664 Reginald Kelsall, then head of the family, refused to enter his pedigree at the heralds' visitation and was thus denied the right to bear arms and to be styled 'gentleman'. There is however a small brass plaque to the Kelsall family in Cheadle Church which shows that the family chose to defy this order for it is headed with a decorative coat of arms.
See Kelsall of Bradshaw.