Bradford, William (1663-1752), was a printer who played an important role in the beginnings of journalism in the American Colonies. In 1685, Bradford established the first printing press in Philadelphia. In 1692, Bradford was arrested for publishing attacks by Quaker leader George Keith against the main branch of Quakerism. In these attacks, Keith accused the Quaker majority of heresy and lack of discipline. Bradford successfully defended himself before a jury in one of the first trials in the colonies concerning freedom of the press. In 1693, Bradford moved to New York and set up that colony’s first printing press. In 1725, he started New York’s first newspaper, the New-York Gazette.
Bradford was born on May 20, 1663, in Leicestershire, England. He died on May 23, 1752. His grandson William Bradford III published a leading colonial newspaper, the Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser, from 1742 to 1778.
