Researching William Bradley

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.

He was born in Alexandria to builder Michael Bradley and Bridget Clerkins. He attended school locally and became a clerk with the Crown Solicitors' Office from 1917 to 1918; he was also studying part-time at the University of Sydney, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in 1915 and a Bachelor of Law in 1919, in which year he was called to the bar, where he focused on commercial and industrial law. On 25 January 1922 he married Coralie Viola Moloney (née Goold). From 1912 to 1942 he served in the Australian Military Forces, in later years being part of the Army Legal Corps. King's Counsel from 1934, he was a member of Sydney City Council from 1937 to 1948. From 1940 to 1949 he was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council, representing first the United Australia Party and then the Liberal Party. Bradley died at Lewisham in 1957.

He was born at Windsor in New South Wales to Sergeant Jonas Bradley and Catherine. On 10 August 1831 he married Emily Elizabeth Hovell (1811–1848), with whom he had eight children. She was the daughter of explorer William Hilton Hovell. He farmed near Bredbo and Goulburn, and at the latter ran a flour mill and brewery, which survives as the Old Goulburn Brewery. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council, first as an elected member from 1843 to 1846 and then as an appointee from 1851 to 1856. Bradley died at Darling Point in 1868.