Samuel Page

Born in Bedfordshire in 1574, he was the son of a clergyman and studied at Christ Church, Oxford from an unusually young age. He earned successive degrees there and was later described by Francis Meres as one of the notable young English poets writing about the troubles of love.

After taking holy orders, he served as a naval chaplain and joined the 1595 expedition to Cádiz with the admiral Charles Howard. In 1597 he became vicar of St Nicholas, Deptford, and much of his later life was tied to preaching, especially to sailors, merchants, and church audiences connected with England’s maritime world.

His surviving work shows both sides of his career: poetry such as The Love of Amos and Laura and a range of sermons and religious tracts published in the early 1600s. He died in Deptford in 1630 and was buried there on August 8 of that year.