Thomas Browne was born in Cheapside, London in 1605, a few weeks before the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot, and a few months after the publication of Francis Bacon's The Advancement of Learning. He was the fourth child of five and the only son of Thomas Browne and Anne Garroway. Both sides of the family claimed gentility. The father, a successful mercer, died in 1613, when his son was eight years old, and Anne Browne soon after married Sir Thomas Dutton (a somewhat reckless military man remembered only for having killed a senior officer in a duel). The estate bequeathed by Thomas Browne to his widow, children, and others was left in the execution of Anne Dutton and her brother-in-law Edward Browne, but owing to the Duttons' mism

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First published 08 January 2001

Citation: Preston, Claire. "Sir Thomas Browne". The Literary Encyclopedia. 8 January 2001.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=609, accessed 20 November 2009.]