William Bradley | |
|---|---|
| Born | 14 November 1758 Portsmouth, Hampshire, England |
| Died | 13 March 1833 (aged 74) Le Havre, France |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service | &sq=Envato&lang=en&file=File:Naval_Ensign_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg){kind=small} Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1772 to 1812 |
| Rank | Rear-Admiral (struck off) |
| Commands | HMS Comet HMS Champion HMS Plantagenet |
| Battles / wars | Glorious First of June |
| Spouse(s) |
Sarah Witchell (m. 1787) |
William Bradley (14 November 1758–13 March 1833) was a British naval officer and cartographer who was one of the officers who participated in the First Fleet to Australia. During this expedition, Bradley undertook extensive surveys and became one of the first of the settlers to establish relations with the aborigines, with whom he struck up a dialogue and whose customs and nature he studied extensively. He later however fell out with his aboriginal contacts and instead undertook a mission to gather food which ended with an eleven-month stay on Norfolk Island after a shipwreck.
Bradley's later career was overshadowed by his steadily deteriorating mental state. Although a successful small ship commander, Bradley became increasingly erratic and was eventually retired as a result. A few years later, suffering serious mental problems, Bradley committed a highly unusual case of postal fraud and was ultimately exiled. He never returned to Britain but lived in quiet disgrace in France.