He moved to Cambridge to study law and afterwards to London to the Inns of Court. His father, Thomas, died in 1610, and the son went down to live on the estate he inherited. He was married at Hurworth, 4 May 1617, to Frances, daughter of James Lawson, of Nesham Abbey. On the death of his elder brother, Sir Thomas Brathwait, in 1618, Richard became the head of the family, and an important personage in the county, being deputy-lieutenant and justice of the peace.
Sir Thomas Brathwait
Richard