Bradstreet was married to Anne, the daughter of Massachusetts co-founder Thomas Dudley and New England's first published poet.

[8] During one of Bradstreet's stints at Emmanuel he was recommended by John Preston as a tutor or governor to Lord Rich, son of the Earl of Warwick.

[11] In 1628, Dudley and others from the Earl of Lincoln's circle formed the Massachusetts Bay Company, with a view toward establishing a Puritan colony in North America.

[11] After a brief stay in Boston, Bradstreet made his first residence in Newtowne (later renamed Cambridge), near the Dudleys in what is now Harvard Square.

When the council met for the first time in Boston, Bradstreet was selected to serve as colonial secretary, a post he would hold until 1644.

[21] Bradstreet was also outspoken in opposition to the witch hysteria that infested his home town of Salem, culminating in numerous trials in 1692.

[22] He was regularly chosen as an assistant, serving on the council that dominated the public affairs of the colony, but did not reach higher office until 1678, when he was first elected deputy governor under John Leverett.

[23] He was against military actions against some of the colony's foreign neighbors, opposing official intervention in a French Acadian dispute in the 1640s, and also spoke against attacking the New Netherland during the First Anglo-Dutch War (1652–1654).

[21] Following the 1660 restoration of Charles II to the throne of England, colonial authorities again became concerned about preserving their charter rights.

Bradstreet in 1661 headed a legislative committee to "consider and debate such matters touching their patent rights, and privileges, and duty to his Majesty, as should to them seem proper.

"[26] The letter the committee drafted reiterated the colony's charter rights, and also included declarations of allegiance and loyalty to the crown.

[27] The agents were harshly criticized by hardline factions of the legislature, but Bradstreet defended the need to accommodate the king's wishes as the safest course to take.

[31] Relations between colony and crown deteriorated when the king then renewed demands for legislative and religious reforms, which hardline magistrates again resisted.

A bill to establish a naval office was vigorously debated in 1681, with the house of deputies, dominated by the commonwealth party, opposing the idea, and the moderate magistrates supporting it.

The bill that finally passed was a victory for the commonwealth party, making enforcement difficult and subject to reprisal lawsuits.

[43] The idea of revolt against Andros arose as early as January 1689, before news of the December 1688 Glorious Revolution reached Boston.

"[45] News of the revolution apparently reached some individuals as early as late March,[46] and Bradstreet is one of several possible organizers of the mob that formed in Boston on April 18, 1689.

[47] Andros, who had fled to the safety of Castle Island, surrendered, and was eventually returned to England after several months in confinement.

[51] He had to defend the colony against those who were opposed to the reintroduction of the old rule, who he characterized in reports to London as malcontents and strangers stirring up trouble.

[53] In 1691 William and Mary issued a charter establishing the Province of Massachusetts Bay, and appointed Phips its first governor.