William Bradford

William Bradford (1533-1595) a prosperous Yeoman farmer, was apparently the first Bradford to settle in Austerfield. In 1577 he had purchased from Anthony Morton; land and houses in Austerfield and Bawtry (in Yorkshire); and land in Mission (in Nottinghamshire). He already owned lands in Tickhill and Bentley from his parents and grandparents. Even before this purchase, in 1575, he and John Hanson were the only taxed inhabitants of Austerfield. Bradford was assessed 20s on his land, whereas John Hanson was assessed 60s on "goods".

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LK89-BYN

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bradford-71

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/89841484/william-bradford

William Bradford's first wife was very probably Alice Morton [sic: disputed] a sister of the Anthony Morton, of Bawtry from whom he bought land and houses. [However, this Anthony did not have a sister Alice.]

According to the Browne Reference (see below), William Bradford (1533-1595) won these properties in a "fine" where Bradford was a "plaintiff" and Anthony Morton and his wife, Mary are "deforciants". The same article asserts that William Bradford's 1 st. wife was Alice Morton, sister of Anthony Morton, and that Anthony Morton was the grandfather of George Morton, the Plymouth Colonist. One of Anthony Morton's two sons was George Morton (the elder) who married Catherine Boun and had a son, the George Morton of Leyden and Plymouth, a member of the Seperatists, many of whom sailed to Plymouth on the Mayflower.

William Bradford (1533-1595) married his second wife, Margaret Fox, in Nottingham on Oct. 19, 1567. Margaret was the daughter of William Fox of Harworth , Nottingham County, by whom William Bradford (1533-1595) had one child (a daughter), Elizabeth Bradford (bap. July 16, 1571). Elizabeth married James Hall at Austerfield on June 25, 1595 and had four children surnamed Hall, three of whom were living in 1609.

Disputed speculation

George Morton was therefore, a second cousin to Gov. William Bradford. George sailed originally on the Speedwell which developed leaks and had to return to England, so he came later on the Anne in 1623. He married Juliane Carpenter, a sister of Alice Carpenter, the 2nd wife of Governor Bradford. Thus he was also a brother-in-law to Gov. William Bradford of Plymouth.

Links

• Pedigree of: William Bradford 1533-1595

Citations

1. Mayflower Planters, p. 103

Sources

1. Ancestry.com. History and genealogy of the Mayflower planters and first comers to ye olde colonie [database on-line]. Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005. Original data: Hills, Leon Clark,. History and genealogy of the Mayflower planters and first comers to ye olde colonie. Washington, D.C.: Hills Pub. Co., c1936-c1941. (see document, attached)
2. English Origins of New England Families, 2nd Ser. Vol. 1. p. 243 “Ancestry of the Bradfords of Austerfield, Co. York” by William Bradford Browne. (1930) Ed. by Gary Boyd Roberts, pub. by Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1985. Also see in New England Historical and Genealogical Register Vol 83:439-464 (1929) and Vol 84: 5-17 (1930). p. 461. < AmericanAncestors >
3. Bradford of Plymouth by Bradford Smith, Pub. by J. B. Lippencott, 1951.
4. Descendants of Governor William Bradford, by Ruth Gardiner Hall, under auspices of the Bradford Family Compact.
5. Bradford Genealogy by Faith Bradford
6. A Line of Bradfords 1460-1988 by Bradford Stone
7. Thomas Bradford I: Birth: in 1503 in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, United Kingdom. Death: in 1577 in Berwick, UK. Married Elenor Moreton in1529 in Murton, England. Children include: Thomas II and Elizabeth.

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http://mayflowerhistory.com/bradford-william/

William Bradford

BAPTISM: 19 March 1589/90 at Austerfield, co. Yorks, England, son of William and Alice (Hanson) Bradford.
FIRST MARRIAGE: Dorothy May, on 10 December 1613 at Amsterdam, Holland.
SECOND MARRIAGE: Alice (Carpenter) Southworth, on 14 August 1623 at Plymouth.
CHILDREN (by Dorothy): John
CHILDREN (by Alice): William, Mercy, Joseph
DEATH: 9 May 1657 at Plymouth.
yDNA HAPLOGROUP: I-M253 (I-Y21372)

William Bradford's 1592 edition of the Geneva Bible, currently on display at the Pilgrim Hall Museum in Plymouth.

William Bradford was born in 1590 in the small farming community of Austerfield, Yorkshire. His father William died when young Bradford was just one year old. He lived with his grandfather William, until his grandfather died when he was six. His mother Alice then died when he was seven. Orphaned both from parents and grandparents, he and older sister Alice were raised by their uncle Robert Bradford. William was a sickly boy, and by the age of 12 had taken to reading the Bible, and as he began to come of age he became acquainted with the ministry of Richard Clyfton and John Smith, around which the Separatist churches of the region would eventually form about 1606. His family was not supportive of his moves, and by 1607 the Church of England were applying pressure to extinguish these religious sects. Bradford, at the age of 18, joined with the group of Separatists that fled from England in fear of persecution, arriving in Amsterdam in 1608. A year later he migrated with the rest of the church to the town of Leiden, Holland, where they remained for eleven years. Bradford returned to Amsterdam temporarily in 1613 to marry his 16-year old bride, Dorothy May. In Leiden, Bradford took up the trade of a silk weaver to make ends meet, and also was able to recover some of the estate in England that he had been left by his father, to support himself and his new wife in Leiden. They had a son, John, born about 1615-1617 in Leiden.

A chair that once belonged to Governor William Bradford, now on display at the Pilgrim Hall Museum in Plymouth.

By 1620, when a segment of the church had decided to set off for America on the Mayflower, Bradford (now 30 years old) sold off his house in Leiden, and he and his wife Dorothy joined; however, they left young son John behind, presumably so he would not have to endure the hardships of colony-building. While the Mayflower was anchored off Provincetown Harbor at the tip of Cape Cod, and while many of the Pilgrim men were out exploring and looking for a place to settle, Dorothy Bradford accidentally fell overboard and drowned.

John Carver was elected governor of Plymouth, and remained governor until his death a year later in April 1621. Bradford was then elected governor, and was re-elected nearly every year thereafter. In 1623, he married to the widowed Alice (Carpenter) Southworth, and had a marriage feast very reminiscent of the "First Thanksgiving," with Massasoit and a large number of Indians joining, and bringing turkeys and deer. Bradford was the head of the government of Plymouth, oversaw the courts, the colony's finances, corresponded with investors and neighbors, formulated policy with regards to foreigners, Indians, and law, and so had a very active role in the running of the entire Colony. With his second wife, he had three more children, all of whom survived to adulthood and married.
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Beginning in 1630, he started writing a history of the Plymouth Colony, which is now published under the title Of Plymouth Plantation. He continued writing his history of Plymouth through about 1651. Bradford's History is one of the primary sources used by historians, and is the only thorough history of Plymouth Colony that was written by a Mayflower passenger. It is required reading in a number of collegiate American History courses, and an edition of it was edited by MayflowerHistory.com historian Caleb Johnson (see Amazon.com link to the right). A number of his letters, poems, conferences, and other writings of William Bradford, have also survived.

William Bradford was generally sick all through the winter of 1656-1657; on May 8, Bradford predicted to his friends and family that he would die, and he did the next day, 9 May 1657, at the age of 68.
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