We have records from the Church of England (Anglican) showing Robert having graduated from Oxford University in 1628 with a degree in theology, apparently at age 17.
The fact that his life was dedicated to the church was very much in keeping with English tradition during that period. Thomas, as the eldest son, would inherit his father's estate, and Robert, the second son, went into the ministry, with no property or inheritance. The third son, if there was one, would usually go into military service.
We can assume that Robert went into ministerial training for a period in a secondary assignment in some Anglican church.
King Henry VIII had taken England out of the Catholic church in 1533-1534, after some years of rancor and discontent with the Pope in Rome. After Henry's death in 1547, the country was divided between those who wanted to stay independant of Rome, and those who would return the country to the "true church," (i.e., Catholic - Queen Mary 1553-1558 burned nearly 300 men and women for heresy, or non-catholic beliefs.)
Mary was followed by the very strong Anglican Queen Elizabeth I, who ruled from 1558-1603. Elizabeth replaced all of Mary's bishops but one, to reestablish England as protestant. Heavy fines were levied on Catholics who said mass or did not attend Anglican services. During the last 28 years of Elizabeth's reign, over 200 Catholics were executed, including her pro-Catholic cousin and possible heir, Mary Queen of Scots.
Under James I (1603-1625), the church struggle continued with his support of the bishops in their "measures to insure conformity" in belief and practice of religion.
During James' reign, England recognized the value of foreign trade and commerce. To expand trade and influence, colonies were established in Virginia (Jamestown) in 1609 and Bermuda in 1611. A wide division developed between James and parliament over his policies of taxation and war alliances, in many cases to protect European royalty.
The struggle for the control and governing of England continued into the reign of Charles I (1625-1649), and led to the English civil war in 1642-1647 - the Parliament (primarily the House of Commons) against the King and royalty. The Parliament accepted help in the war from Scotland and in repayment took a number of Scottish Prebyterians as members of Parliament. When the Parliament prevailed in the war, the House of Commons abolished the House of Lords, then tried and executed King Charles in January 1649.
This bit of history is given to indicate how difficult it must have been for a person like Robert Bracewell to keep out of harms way during the changing tides of English history. As a member of the clergy, he was honorbound to swear allegiance to the King, who was the head of his church, and through infefrence, to the English royalty and the House of Lords.
It is fair to assume that the Reverend Robert Bracewell was faced with two options, neither very good: 1) stay in England as aprt of a diminished church facing a hostile House of Commons, or 2) "volunteering" to represent his church in the colonies facing disease, indians, and relative poverty. Perhaps the decision was made my others and he had no choice, but one way or the other, he and his family arrived in Smithfield, Virginia, in 1650 to be minister of the "Old Brick Church" (reportedly the first brick building in America and still standing).
The Reverend Robert Bracewell passed away in 1660. We trace our ancestry through his two sons who migrated south across the colony line to North Carolina to escape being hanged by the Governor of Virginia Colony for their participation in Bacon's Rebellion. Our history from North Carolina, through North Georgia, and finally to Laurens County, Georgia, in 1820 is fairly sketchy. Hopefully, those chapters will be added by someone in the future.
