John Bradford was an English dissenting

English Dissenters

English Dissenters were Christians who separated from the Church of England in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.They originally agitated for a wide reaching Protestant Reformation of the Established Church, and triumphed briefly under Oliver Cromwell....

 minister.

Bradford, was born at Hereford

Hereford

Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...

 in 1750, the son of a clothier, educated at Hereford grammar school

Grammar school

A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...

, and at Wadham College

Wadham College, Oxford

Wadham College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, located at the southern end of Parks Road in central Oxford. It was founded by Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham, wealthy Somerset landowners, during the reign of King James I...

, Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

, where he took the degree of B.A. On leaving college he accepted a curacy

Curate

A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...

 at Frilsham

Frilsham

Frilsham is a village and civil parish, near Newbury, in the English county of Berkshire.It is a village near the Berkshire Downs, lying on a hill surrounded by woods and meadows. Neighbouring villages include Yattendon, Hermitage, Stanford Dingley and Hampstead Norreys. There are views over the...

 in Berkshire

Berkshire

Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

, where he married when twenty-eight years of age, and had a family of twelve children. About this time his religious opinions became decidedly Calvinistic

Calvinism

Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...

, and he preached in several of Lady Huntingdon's

Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon

Selina, Countess of Huntingdon was an English religious leader who played a prominent part in the religious revival of the 18th century and the Methodist movement in England and Wales, and has left a Christian denomination in England and Sierra Leone.-Early life:Selina Hastings was born as Lady...

 chapels. On account of this irregularity the rector

Rector

The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...

 discharged him from his curacy. He then joined the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion

Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion

The Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion is a small society of evangelical churches, founded in 1783 by Selina, Countess of Huntingdon as a result of the Evangelical Revival. For years it was strongly associated with the Calvinist Methodist movement of George Whitefield...

, and, after spending some time in South Wales

South Wales

South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...

, removed to Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, and preached with great popularity in the old playhouse, which the countess had purchased and made into a chapel for him. Subsequently he left the connection of the countess for a new chapel in Bartholomew Street, supplementing his small income by making watch-chains

Pocket watch

A pocket watch is a watch that is made to be carried in a pocket, as opposed to a wristwatch, which is strapped to the wrist. They were the most common type of watch from their development in the 16th century until wristwatches became popular after World War I during which a transitional design,...

. Not being successful, he removed to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 in 1797, and preached till his death in the City Chapel, Grub Street

Grub Street

Until the early 19th century, Grub Street was a street close to London's impoverished Moorfields district that ran from Fore Street east of St Giles-without-Cripplegate north to Chiswell Street...

. He died 16 July 1805, and was buried in Bunhill Fields

Bunhill Fields

Bunhill Fields is a cemetery in the London Borough of Islington, north of the City of London, and managed by the City of London Corporation. It is about 4 hectares in extent, although historically was much larger....

. Some account of his life is given in an octavo

Octavo

Octavo to is a technical term describing the format of a book.Octavo may also refer to:* Octavo is a grimoire in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett...

 volume, chiefly controversial, by his successor, William Wales Home.

Bradford published:

• The Law of Faith opposed to the Law of Works, Birmingham, 1787 (being an answer to the Baptist circular letter signed Joshua Thomas).
• An Address to the Inhabitants of New Brunswick
  New Brunswick
  New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
  
  , Nova Scotia
  Nova Scotia
  Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
  
  , on the Mission of two Ministers sent by the Countess of Huntingdon, 1788.
• A Collection of Hymns (some of them composed by himself), 1792.
• The Difference between True and False Holiness.
• A Christian's Meetness for Glory.
• Comfort for the Feeble-minded.
• The Gospel spiritually discerned.
• One Baptism. A fine octavo edition of Bunyan's
  John Bunyan
  John Bunyan was an English Christian writer and preacher, famous for writing The Pilgrim's Progress. Though he was a Reformed Baptist, in the Church of England he is remembered with a Lesser Festival on 30 August, and on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church on 29 August.-Life:In 1628,...
  
   Pilgrim's Progress
  The Pilgrim's Progress
  The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come is a Christian allegory written by John Bunyan and published in February, 1678. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of religious English literature, has been translated into more than 200 languages, and has never been...
  
  , with Notes by John Bradford, was published in 1792. Mr. Offor says, 'These notes are very valuable.'

Further reading

• Bunyan's Works (ed. Offor), with notes to the Pilgrim by Bradford
• Gadsby's Memoirs of Hymn Writers
• Home's Life of the Rev. John Bradford (1806)