William was the son of Thomas Bladen,[1] a yeoman of Newton Solney in Derbyshire and was sent to London with his younger brother Richard to undertake an apprenticeship in 1602.
[11] During the 1641 Irish Rebellion, Bladen kept a journal of events[12] which he sent to his son in London for him to publish as he had seen unreliable and inaccurate reports of occurrences and wanted to set the record straight.
Although Bladen was clearly a supporter of the English Protestant administration in Dublin, his letters equally described brutalities that were carried out by his own side as well as the 'rebels'.
Bladen retained his print monopoly in the English Civil War years and during the Irish Confederacy, becoming Commonwealth Printer but, after the Restoration, he was unable to regain the title.
He remained in Dublin for the rest of his days and contributed financially to the restoration of St Werburgh's Church.