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[[Colonel (United Kingdom)|Colonel]] '''Sir Edward Ridley Colborne Bradford, 1st Baronet''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|GCB|GCVO|KCSI|ADC}} (27 July 1836 – 13 May 1911) was a [[British Indian Army]] officer who later served as [[Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis]], head of the [[London]] [[Metropolitan Police]], from 1890 to 1903.<br />
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[[Image:Edward Bradford.png|thumb|right|Sir Edward Bradford, 1901.]]<br />
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==Military career==<br />
Bradford was born in [[Buckinghamshire]], the son of William Mussage Kirkwall Bradford (1806–1878), the [[Rector (ecclesiastical)|rector]] of [[West Meon]], [[Hampshire]], and was educated from 1846 at [[Marlborough College]]. He was commissioned into the [[British East India Company|East India Company]]'s [[2nd Madras Light Infantry]] (based at [[Jalna (city)|Jalna]]) in 1853, transferring to the [[6th Madras Cavalry]] (based at [[Mhow]]) on his promotion to [[lieutenant]] in 1855. He saw active service in [[Iran|Persia]] (1856–1857), attached to the [[14th King's Hussars|14th The King's Light Dragoons]], and in the latter stages of the [[Indian Mutiny]], where he served as [[adjutant]] of the left wing of his [[regiment]]. In 1858, he transferred to Mayne's Irregular Cavalry (later the 1st Regiment of Central India Horse), of which he became [[Second-in-Command]] on 25 October 1858. He distinguished himself in a number of actions, especially against [[Tantya Tope]] at [[Cawnpore]]. In September 1860, with his health suffering from extended campaigning, he was ordered home to [[England]] to recuperate.<br />
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In 1862, he returned to [[India]] and was made Political Assistant in West [[Malwa]]. On 10 May 1863, he was mauled by a [[tiger|tigress]] during a hunt near [[Guna, India|Guna]] and lost his left arm. He continued to ride in [[Boar hunting|pigsticking]], holding the [[rein]]s between his teeth, but his active military career was over.<br />
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==Indian Civil Service==<br />
He remained in the Indian Army, but served as [[Political officer (British Empire)|Political Agent]] at successively [[Jaipur]], [[Baghelkhand]], [[Bharatpur, India|Bharatpur]] and [[Mewar]]. He was promoted [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]] in 1865 and [[major]] in 1873. In 1866, he married Elizabeth Adela Knight. In 1874, he was made general superintendent of the [[Thuggee and Dacoity Department]], which effectively acted as the [[Viceroy of India|Viceroy's]] [[secret police]]. In March 1878, he was appointed [[Viceroy of India|governor-general's]] agent for [[Rajputana]] and [[chief commissioner]] of [[Ajmer]], in charge of relations with the [[Rajput]] princes, by whom he was respected and admired, not least because he had survived an encounter with a tiger. In private, however, he had no time for them, regarding them as lazy, vain, stupid and underhand. He was promoted [[lieutenant-colonel]] in 1879 and [[colonel]] in 1884. Having been appointed a [[Companion of the Order of the Star of India]] (CSI) in 1876,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=24303 |date=7 March 1876 |page=1787}}</ref> in June 1885, he was knighted as a [[Order of the Star of India|Knight Commander of the Star of India]] (KCSI) for his services.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=25477 |date=6 June 1885 |page=2631}}</ref><br />
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In 1887, he returned to London as secretary of the Political and Secret Department of the [[India Office]], but the following year returned to India to conduct [[Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence]] on a tour of the country, returning to England in 1889. He was made an [[Aide-de-Camp]] to [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]] (holding the post until 1893), and was offered the governorship of [[Cape Colony]], but refused it.<br />
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==Commissioner of Police==<br />
[[File:Edward Bradford Vanity Fair 15 November 1890.jpg|thumb|right|{{center|"[[Scotland Yard]]"<br>Bradford as caricatured by Spy ([[Leslie Ward]]) in [[Vanity Fair (British magazine)|Vanity Fair]], November 1890}}]]<br />
In June 1890, Bradford was appointed to succeed [[James Monro]] as Commissioner of Police. His immediate concern was to restore stability after the [[Black Monday (1886)|Black Monday]] and [[Bloody Sunday (1887)|Bloody Sunday]] riots and the resignation of three Commissioners in the past two years. He was an ideal choice. His military background gave him authority and experience of command (although his personality was generally easy-going), while his experiences in India gave him knowledge of administration, criminal investigation and the workings of the [[civil service]]. His years in control of the Met were generally peaceful and stable, with the police's standing in public opinion rising steadily. In 1899, crime in London fell to its lowest point in recorded history.<br />
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Bradford successfully settled the [[London Police Strike (1890)|police strike]] of 1890, days after he took up office, and resisted the efforts of the new [[London County Council]] to take over his force from the [[Home Office]]. He visited every one of his [[police station]]s and talked and listened to his men, becoming the first Commissioner to do so. He varied the [[Police|beat]]s to ease the tedium of patrol duty and attempted to improve the educational standard of new recruits. He built more police stations and improved the quality of the [[section house]]s, ensured that all stations were linked by [[telegraph]] (although he disapproved of some other new technologies, such as [[telephone]]s and [[typewriter]]s, and would not introduce them), extended the use of [[bicycle]]s, encouraged sporting activities among his men, and introduced a lighter summer uniform.<br />
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Bradford received many honours during his time as Commissioner. He was appointed [[Order of the Bath|Knight Commander of the Bath]] (KCB) in 1890,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=26053 |date=21 May 1890 |page=2965}}</ref> [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]] (GCB) in 1897,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=26867 |date=25 June 1897 |page=3568}}</ref> and [[Royal Victorian Order|Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]] (GCVO) in the [[1902 Birthday Honours]] list<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27493 |date=9 November 1902 |page=7161 |supp=y}}</ref> (he was invested with the insignia by King [[Edward VII]] at [[Buckingham Palace]] on 18 December 1902).<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Court Circular |date=19 December 1902 |page=4 |issue=36955}}</ref> He became the first Commissioner to be created a [[baronet]], announced in the [[1902 Coronation Honours]] list published on 26 June 1902 for the (subsequently postponed) coronation of [[King Edward VII]],<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Coronation Honours |date=26 June 1902 |page=5 |issue=36804| }}</ref> and on 24 July 1902 he was created a '''Baronet''', of [[South Audley Street]], in the city of Westminster, in the county of London.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27457 |date=25 July 1902 |page=4738}}</ref><br />
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He retired on 4 March 1903.<br />
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==Later years==<br />
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After his retirement, Bradford devoted much of his time to [[fox hunting]], an activity in which he indulged several days every week. He also chaired a committee to enquire into the wages of [[General Post Office]] employees. He served as an extra [[equerry]] to both [[Edward VII]] and [[George V]].<br />
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Bradford died suddenly at his home in [[Westminster]] and was buried in the churchyard at [[Chawton]], [[Hampshire]], next to his first wife, who had died in 1896. He was survived by his second wife, Edith Mary Nicholson, whom he had married in 1898. By his first marriage to Elizabeth Adela Knight (1841–96), he had a daughter and five sons. Their eldest son, Montagu Edward Bradford (1867–1890), died of cholera in India. His second son, Lieutenant-Colonel [[Sir Evelyn Bradford, 2nd Baronet|Sir Evelyn Ridley Bradford]] (1869–1914) of the [[Seaforth Highlanders]], succeeded to the baronetcy and was killed in action in [[France]] on 14 September 1914. Their third and fourth sons, Daryl Colborne Bradford (1871–74) and Herbert Lewkenor (1873–4) both died in India. Their daughter Beryl Adela (1875–?) never married. Their fifth son, Lt. Col. Edward Austen Bradford, DSO (1879–1958) served with 60th Rifles.<br />
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==Styles==<br />
*1836–1853: Edward Ridley Colborne Bradford<br />
*1853–1855: Second Lieutenant Edward Ridley Colborne Bradford<br />
*1855–1865: Lieutenant Edward Ridley Colborne Bradford<br />
*1865–1873: Captain Edward Ridley Colborne Bradford<br />
*1873–1879: Major Edward Ridley Colborne Bradford<br />
*1879–1884: Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Ridley Colborne Bradford<br />
*1884–1885: Colonel Edward Ridley Colborne Bradford<br />
*1885–1889: Colonel Sir Edward Ridley Colborne Bradford, KCSI<br />
*1889–1890: Colonel Sir Edward Ridley Colborne Bradford, KCSI, ADC<br />
*1890–1893: Colonel Sir Edward Ridley Colborne Bradford, KCB, KCSI, ADC<br />
*1893–1897: Colonel Sir Edward Ridley Colborne Bradford, KCB, KCSI<br />
*1897–1902: Colonel Sir Edward Ridley Colborne Bradford, GCB, KCSI<br />
*1902–1911: Colonel Sir Edward Ridley Colborne Bradford, Bt., GCB, GCVO, KCSI<br />
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==Footnotes==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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==References==<br />
*''The Times''<br />
*''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]''<br />
*Martin Fido & Keith Skinner, ''The Official Encyclopedia of Scotland Yard'' (Virgin Books, London:1999)<br />
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==External links==<br />
*[https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp56380/sir-edward-ridley-colborne-bradford-1st-bt?search=sas&sText=edward+bradford&OConly=true Portraits of Bradford in the National Portrait Gallery]<br />
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{{s-ttl |title=[[Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis]] |years=1890–1903}}<br />
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{{s-ttl |title=[[Bradford baronets|Baronet]] <br/>'''(of South Audley Street)''' |years=1902–1911}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradford, Edward}}<br />
[[Category:Commissioners of Police of the Metropolis]]<br />
[[Category:Indian Political Service officers]]<br />
[[Category:British police officers in India]]<br />
[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]<br />
[[Category:British military personnel of the Anglo-Persian War]]<br />
[[Category:British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857]]<br />
[[Category:British East India Company Army officers]]<br />
[[Category:People educated at Marlborough College]]<br />
[[Category:People from Buckinghamshire]]<br />
[[Category:Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom]]<br />
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]]<br />
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]]<br />
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India]]<br />
[[Category:1836 births]]<br />
[[Category:1911 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Big cat attack victims]]<br />
[[Category:English amputees]]<br />
[[Category:Royalty and nobility with disabilities]]<br />
[[Category:British people in colonial India]]</div>Bot