Anne Bradstreet was born in Northampton, England in 1612. Her father was Thomas Dudley, the chief steward of Theophilus Clinton, the Earl of Lincoln. She married the fellow Puritan, Simon Bradstreet in 1628.

In 1630, Anne sailed for America with her husband and father on the Arbella, joined the Puritans who established the Massachusetts Bay Colony in America. John Winthrop became the colony's first governor of Massachusetts but later her father, Thomas Dudley, and her husband, Simon Bradstreet, held this office.

Bradstreet had eight children and lived at different times in Cambridge, Ipswich and Andover. She began writing poetry and her brother-in-law arranged for them to be published in England as The Tenth Muse (1650). Bradstreet therefore became America's first published poet. However, it was another 28 years before the The Tenth Muse was published in America. Another collection of poems, Great Variety of Wit and Learning was published posthumously. Anne Bradstreet died on 16th September, 1672.