William Bradford: Governor Of The Plymouth Colony

William Bradford was born in 1590 in the Yorkshire farming community of Austerfield, England. In his early childhood, both parents died. He became an orphan at age 7, went to live with his uncle. William suffered a long illness and spent his recovery reading the Bible and literature. He was only 12 years old when he became a dedicated member of one of the separatist churches that made up the “left wing” of Puritanism. Seven years later he joined a group of nonconformists who migrated to Holland -1609- in search of religious freedom.William Bradford was the longest serving and most well known governor of the Plymouth Colony, one of Britain's earliest settlements in what is now the United States of America. Bradford served as Plymouth governor