William Bradbury (printer)

[4][6] In 1824 Bradbury and Dent published their first book, The Poll for the Election of a Knight of the Shire for the County of Lincoln, taken November 26 to December 6, 1823, following which they relocated to London, where they set up their printing business at 76 Fleet Street,[7] During one of the firm's several moves they gained another partner, Samuel Manning, and became Bradbury, Dent, and Manning.

[6] For the first ten years of the firm's existence Bradbury and Evans were printers, but they added publishing in 1841 after they acquired the satirical magazine Punch.

In a letter to his wife Catherine Dickens he wrote that after the party Mrs Bradbury told him of the occasion when her husband burned down their bed while she was away and secretly replaced it.

Bradbury and Evans as publishers might have found themselves in the forefront of the ongoing campaign against "taxes on knowledge"; but the initial court decision went in their favour.

The government then tried amending the existing law, to duck public opinion, reversing the stand taken by the revenue on the definition of "newspaper".

[9] Furious at their refusal, Dickens immediately cut all business and personal connections with them, returning to his old publisher, Chapman and Hall.

"[22] As a result, they founded the illustrated literary magazine Once a Week, in direct competition with Dickens' new All The Year Round (the successor to Household Words).

"[4][24] In November 1865 William Bradbury and Frederick Mullett Evans finally retired and dissolved their 35-year partnership.

[4] The South London Chronicle recorded that: "On the 15th inst., the mortal remains of Mr. W. Bradbury, the well-known printer and publisher, were interred at Highgate Cemetery.