Ernle Dusgate Selby Bradford (11 January 1922 – 8 May 1986) was a noted 20th-century British historian specializing in the Mediterranean world and naval topics. He was also an authority on antique jewellery and was the founder editor of the Antique Dealers and Collector's Guide.

Life

Bradford was the son of Jocelyn Ernle Sydney Patton Bradford, and his wife, Ada Louise Dusgate. He was born in Cole Green, Norfolk and educated in England at Uppingham School. He served in the Royal Navy during World War II, initially as an Ordinary Seaman but rising to the rank of first lieutenant of a Hunt Class Destroyer. A keen yachtsman himself, Bradford spent almost 30 years sailing the Mediterranean, and many of his books are set there. His book, The Journeying Moon describes some of these voyages. It ends with the sale of his Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter, Mischief, to HW Bill Tilman, who made a number of significant voyages in it to high latitudes. A sometime BBC broadcaster and magazine editor, Bradford was also a prolific author and popular historian, many of his books remaining in print to this day. He regularly wrote letters to the British press, in particular The Times and Country Life, on matters of history and sailing. Bradford lived in Kalkara, on Malta for a number of years, this also being where he died, and where a commemorative marble plaque exists to his memory and a street next to his old home is named after him.

List of works