The first member of the Bradshaw family to be listed as living in Halton was William Bradshaw, an experienced and well-regarded tapestry weaver working in London. He was the son of James and Elizabeth Bradshaw, who lived in Cockerham, another town not far from Halton, in 1700.

William was friends with a well-known furniture manufacturer, William Gillow, before going to London in 1728. He must have been a hard-working and determined man, regardless of the financial backing he may have had, as he established facilities at three locations in London. replacing them for Joshua Morris after Joshua lost a lawsuit to William Hogarth. He made enough money to retire in 1748, returning to the north of England and the house he had bought five years earlier, Halton Hall.

His nephew William Fletcher Bradshaw was an energetic and charismatic man, owner of Halton Hall until his death in April 1815. William changed his middle name as a mark of respect for his uncle, becoming William Bradshaw Bradshaw after he inherited it in 1775. He and his first wife Isabella had five children together, one of whom, their daughter Elizabeth, was born before their wedding in an act that would have been discussed at the time.

Isabella and William had the following children:

– Elizabeth

– Sara (1800)

– Robert Fletcher (1801)

– Isabel (1802)

– Margaret (1803)

– Mary (1804)

William and Isabella’s sole heir, Robert Fletcher, was born in 1801 and was their third child. Robert was possibly a headstrong man, inheriting his father’s disposition, as he married before coming of age. Robert married his cousin Sarah Anne in 1819, he was seventeen years old and she was four years older than him. The two were evidently a very fertile couple who loved each other, as they managed to have fourteen children together.

His children were called:

– Annie (born 1822)

– Robert Fletcher (born 1822)

– Sarah Isabella (21.04.1823-25.05.1875)

– Sydney Maria (1824)

– Millicent Jane (1825)

– Henry Yates (26.07.1826- 09.10.1826)

– Charlotte Elizabeth (1827)

– Charles Billington (1828)

– George Wrayfell (1830)

– Phoebe Ellen (1831)

– William (01.10.1832-17.11.1832)

– Cicely Mary (1834)

– Sofia Alicia (1835)

– Frances Emily (1837)

Unfortunately, they lost three of their children before they reached adulthood, something that was all too familiar to others of their time.