The New Student's Reference Work/Bradford, William

Brad′ford, William, one of the Pilgrims, was born in England, in 1590. In the cause of religious liberty he went to Holland. Here he joined the English congregation at Leyden, and sailed for America in the Mayflower (1620). The next year he was elected governor of Plymouth colony, and, with the exception of five years when he refused re-election, he held that office for thirty-one years, till his death in 1657. He wrote a history of the colony from 1620 to 1647.