Ninth Generation

12. Reverend Joseph Samuel BRIDGER (:) was born on 18 November 1584 in Godalming, Waverly District, Surrey County, England. He may have been born at Woodmancote Manor, Dursley, Gloucestershire, England. He graduated in 1604 in Gloucestershire, England. from Magdalen College. He died on 31 July 1650 at the age of 65 in Dursley, Gloucestershire, England. at Woodmancote Manor.

(According to the MyHeritage.com website, his youngest son, Richard, was born in the Virginia Colony. So, if Joseph died in England, he must have returned after the birth of Richard.)

Life Notes about his son, Samuel: "Samuel was the son of Lawrence Bridger, rector of St. John the Evangelist Church in Slimbridge. Samuel was auditor of the College of Gloucester, England. Samuel and his wife Mary lived in an ancient house called Woodmancote and raised their eight children there. Their children were: John, Samuel, Joseph, who immigrated to Virginia, James also of Virginia, George, Jonathan, Martha, and Mary.

Samuel had the reputation of being rather tight with his money, left his mark on Woodmancote. In order to avoid the decree of King Charles I, who had assessed a tax on each window in every dwelling in England, he bricked over at least three of Woodmancote's second floor windows. His 'tax shelter' is still visible.

At one time there was an interesting epitaph in the Lady Chapel of Gloucester Cathedral: 'Here lyes the body of Samuel Bridger, gent, who Departed this life upon the 21st day of July, An. 1650. Receiver of this College Rents, he paid His Debt to Nature, and beneath he's laid, To rest until his Summons to remove, At the last Audit, to the Choir above.' The epitaph was removed during a restoration at the end of the 19th century and is no longer there.

On June 30th 1996 a new window in the North wall of the chancel and adjacent to the altar of St. John the Evangelist Church in Slimbridge was dedicated in memory of Lawrence Bridger, who was Rector 1577-1630. The Dean of Chapel and choir of Magdalen College, Oxford, took part in the service. The window, which incorporates the Bridger coat of arms was made possible by the generosity of American descendants, several of whom attended the ceremony.

He lists his children in his will and there were two named John and Jonathan. They are two different people."

Joseph was buried in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England. in the Gloucester Cathedral.

Reverend Joseph Samuel BRIDGER (:) and Mary "Neuce" WEBB (:) were married on 10 June 1622 in Cranleigh, Surrey County, England. Mary "Neuce" WEBB (:), daughter of Nicolas Thomas WEBBE and Elinore WAIGHTE, was born before 12 July 1601 in London, Middlesex County, England. She was baptized on 12 July 1601 in London, Middlesex County, England. at St. Thomas the Apostle Church of England. (Her birthdate may have 14 April 1607.) She died on 18 October 1683 at the age of 82 in Woodmancote, West Sussex County, England.

Reverend Joseph Samuel BRIDGER (:) and Mary "Neuce" WEBB (:) had the following children:

13	i.	William Bell BRIDGER was born about 1618 in Dursley, Gloucestershire, England. Dursley is a market town and civil parish in southern Gloucestershire, England, situated almost equidistantly between the cities of Bristol and Gloucester. It is under the northeast flank of Stinchcombe Hill, and about 3+3⁄4 miles (6.0 km) southeast of the River Severn. The town is adjacent to Cam which, though a village, is a slightly larger community in its own right. Dursley once had a castle, built by Roger de Berkeley in 1153. Dursley gained borough status in 1471 and lost it in 1886. From 1837 to 1851 it was the administrative centre of Dursley Registration District which recorded vital records of people living in the parishes of North Nibley, Coaley, Slimbridge, Stinchcombe, Uley, Dursley, Cam, Nympsfield, Kingswood, Wotton-under-Edge and Owlpen. From 1886 until 1974 it was the administrative centre of Dursley Rural District (RDC). In 1974 the RDC became part of Stroud District. The Grade I listed parish church of St. James the Great dates from the 13th century. The modern building is largely of 14th and 15th century construction and carries the Tudor coat of arms on the outside below the guttering, indicating that some of its construction was funded by the Tudor royals. The original church spire collapsed in January 1699 during a bell-ringing session, causing casualties. The current belltower, in an imposing Gothic survival style, was built by Thomas Sumsion of Colerne in 1708–09. The pillared market house, complete with statue of Queen Anne and bell turret, dates from 1738, when the town's markets attracted farmers and traders from miles around. It is now maintained by the Dursley Town Trust who also look after Jacob's House and the Heritage Centre. In 1856 a short branch line railway opened, called the "Dursley Donkey" by locals, linking Dursley and Cam to the Bristol–Gloucester main line at Coaley Junction. The branch line was closed in 1968 and Coaley Junction station was also closed at about this time. However, in 1994 a new station called Cam and Dursley was opened on the main line, 330 yards north of the site of Coaley Junction. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Dursley was a large-scale manufacturing town, and engines built here by the Lister engine company were used around the world. That company's successor, Lister Petter, was based in the town until 2014, though much of the original 92-acre (37 ha) factory site was acquired in 2000 by the South West Regional Development Agency and then in 2011 by Stroud District Council. It is now being developed as a large housing development with some industrial units. The Towers, a large gothic-style house, formerly part of the Lister Petter estate, still overlooks the town and has been converted into flats and a residential care home. The Lister Hall theatre is named after the company. Other large factories based in the town included Mawdsley's, an electrical equipment manufacturer; Bymack's, an upholsterers; and the Bailey Newspaper Group, a newspaper printer, all of which have reduced or closed operations in recent years. Ancient historical sites in the vicinity give evidence of earlier occupation. Uley Bury is an Iron Age hill fort dating from around 300BC. The area also has neolithic long barrows; one called "Hetty Pegler's Tump" can be entered. Notable Roman remains exist at Frocester, West Hill near Uley, Woodchester and Calcot Manor. He died about 1650 at the age of 32 in Isle of Wight County, Virginia Colony, British Colonial America.
14	ii.	John BRIDGER was born in 1623 in Dursley, Gloucestershire, England. He died in Isle of Wight County, Virginia Colony, British Colonial America.
15	iii.	Samuel BRIDGER Jr. was born in 1626 in Dursley, Gloucestershire, England. at the Manor of Woodmancote in Dursley Parish. He died in 1716 at the age of 90 in Somme, Picardie, France.
+16	iv.	Colonel Joseph BRIDGER Sr. (:).
17	v.	James BRIDGER was born in 1630 in Dursley, Gloucestershire, England. He died in Somme, Picardie, France.
18	vi.	George BRIDGER was born about 1632 in Dursley, Gloucestershire, England. He died in 1657 at the age of 25 in Godalming, Waverly District, Surrey County, England.
19	vii.	Jonathan BRIDGER was born in 1634 in Dursley, Gloucestershire, England. He died in 1711 at the age of 77 in Somme, Picardie, France.
20	viii.	Martha BRIDGER was born in 1636 in Dursley, Gloucestershire, England. She died in 1714 at the age of 78 in Nansemond County, Virginia Colony, British Colonial America.
+21	ix.	Richard BRIDGER.