Simon Bradstreet was born in Lincolnshire, England in 1603. He married Anne Dudley, the daughter of Thomas Dudley, the Puritan leader, in 1628. Two years later the three of them emigrated to North America.

In 1634 John Winthrop, the governor of Massachusetts Colony, sent Bradstreet to the colonies of Plymouth, New Haven and Connecticut, to negotiate the formation of the New England Confederation.

After the restoration of the monarchy, Bradstreet travelled to England and successfully persuaded King Charles II to confirm the colony's charter. Bradstreet served as governor of the Massachusetts Colony in 1679-86 and 1689-92. His wife, Anne Bradstreet, was America's first published poet. Simon Bradstreet died in 1697.