William Bradford (19 March 1590 – 9 May 1657) was Governor of Plymouth Colony from 1621 to 1633 (succeeding John Carver and preceding Edward Winslow), from 1635 to 1636 (succeeding Thomas Prence and preceding Winslow), from 1637 to 1638 (succeeding Winslow and preceding Prence), from 1639 to 1644 (succeeding Prence and preceding Winslow), and from 1645 to 1657 (succeeding Winslow and preceding Prence).
Biography[]
William Bradford was born in Austerfield, Yorkshire, England in 1590 to a family of wealthy farmers. He became an orphan at the age of seven and was sent to live with two uncles, and he became a well-read youth during his frequent periods of sickness. Bradford attended Puritan meetings and met William Brewster, and he soon converted to the new faith. In 1607, he went with the Pilgrims into exile in Holland, and he then departed for North America aboard the Speedwell and then the Mayflower in 1620. Bradford was one of the first signers of the Mayflower Compact, and his wife drowned early into the expedition. In 1621, he fell ill while building houses, but recovered and was elected Governor of Plymouth Colony not long after John Carver's death. He intermittently served as Governor of Plymouth Colony from 1621 to 1657, and he kept a journal from 1621 to 1646, called Of Plymouth Plantation. Bradford died in 1657.