Early Life
He was born in Bishopsgate, London, a younger son of Edward Alleyn, an innkeeper and porter to the queen, and Margaret Townley. His mother's link to the Lancashire Townley family is somewhat of a mystery. Alleyn himself stated she was the daughter of John Townley of Townley, however this does not easily fit with the available information on the Townley family tree. Regardless the present-day road that passes his school was named after her in 1884. He was baptised at St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate. He was known to contemporaries as "Ned"; his surname is variously spelled Allen or Alleyne.
Read more about this topic: Edward Alleyn
Famous quotes related to early life:
“... goodness is of a modest nature, easily discouraged, and when much elbowed in early life by unabashed vices, is apt to retire into extreme privacy, so that it is more easily believed in by those who construct a selfish old gentleman theoretically, than by those who form the narrower judgments based on his personal acquaintance.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)