bludgeon antedated (?) to 1729

[Stephen Goranson]

OED has 1730.

        News.
Staffetta Italiana or The Italian Post (London, England), Thursday, January 30, 1729; Issue 7. (5184 words).  p. 4 col. 2.

Mr. Bambridge stro k [sic] him over the heard with a Bludgeon, whereupon  Sir William stabb'd him in the Breast with a Shoemaker's knife,...

Stephen Goranson
www.duke.edu/~goranson

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org