an English novelist and ballads. He began his working life as a silk-weaver perhaps in Norwich. He then moved to London. An entry in the parish register of St Giles-without-Cripplegate from 16 October 1586, records the baptism of his son Richard. In the course of the next ten years he is known to have written about fifty ballads, one-sheet stories and news sheets, some of which got him into trouble, and caused him to keep a low profile for a time. John Strype described him as "presumptuous", because the heroes and heroines of his works were clearly common people, and therefore in Strype's terms only suitable for comedy or farce.
