William Bradford (March 19, 1590-May 9, 1657) was an English Puritan separatist best known as one of the group of pilgrims that established Plymouth colony in 1620 and as governor of the Plymouth colony in its first decades. Bradford was born in Yorkshire to a well-to-do family. Orphaned at age 7, he spent much time reading as a child due to “a long sickness”. At 12 years old he joined the Scrooby congregation, a reformist church group. King James I ascension to the throne in 1603 signaled the end of church reform, and Bradford left England with the congregation to settle in the Dutch Republic in 1607. After 10 years the group negotiated with England for permission to settle in the colony of Virginia, and with the Merchant Adventurers, a group of London financial backers. In July 1620 fifty separatists left for England and joined another fifty non-separatist colonists recruited by the Merchant Adventurers. They dropped anchor in Provincetown on November 11, 1620. That day the Mayflower compact was signed, with Bradford being the first to sign. Tragedy struck when Bradford’s wife Dorothy fell overboard and drowned, and then during a widespread sickness that felled half of the settlers in the first winter. On March 21, 1621, the settlers signed a treaty with Massasoit, sachem of the Pokanokets, that called for mutual aid and defense. A month later Governor John Carver died and was succeeded by Bradford. Bradford went on to serve five terms as governor of the Plymouth colony, with the longest between 1621-1632 and 1645-1656.