William Bradford was an English leader of the settlers of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts. He was elected thirty times as Governor after the death of John Carver. Bradford is credited as the first to proclaim what popular American culture now views as the first Thanksgiving.

Bradford was born to William Bradford and Alice Hanson, and baptized on March 19, 1590, in Austerfield, Yorkshire, England. At an early age, he was attracted to a 'primitive' Congregational church near Scrooby. By 1607, he was a committed member of the church, known as the 'separatist' church, due to their separation from the Church of England.

When James I began persecuting separatists in 1608, Bradford and other congregational members moved to the Netherlands, first to Amsterdam, then to Leiden. In Leiden, he married his first wife, Dorothy May, in December 1613. Bradford worked as a weaver while in the Netherlands.

Due to changing European politics and persecution, the separatists decided to establish a colony in America. Bradford and his wife sailed on the Mayflower in 1620. Tragically, his first wife died shortly before arriving in America.

The first winter in the new colony was harsh, resulting in the death of half the settlers, including the leader, John Carver. Bradford was selected to replace Carver as governor in the spring of 1621.

His second wife, Alice Carpenter, arrived in Plymouth in July 1623, and they married the following month. They had three children, William, Mercy, and Joseph.

Bradford died in Plymouth and was buried in Plymouth Burial Hill. Historians believe his greatest achievement was introducing privatized production, resulting in greater prosperity for the colonists.