Michael Drayton (1563 – December 23, 1631) was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era.
He was born at Hartshill, near Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England. Almost nothing is known about his early life, beyond the fact that in 1580 he was in the service of Thomas Goodere of Collingham, Nottinghamshire. Nineteenth- and twentieth-century scholars, on the basis of scattered allusions in his poems and dedications, suggested that Drayton might have studied at the University of Oxford, and been intimate with the Polesworth branch of the Goodere family. More recent work has cast doubt on those speculations.
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You may be interested to know that there is a definite connection between the Draytons of Mancetter / Atherstone and those of Charleston, South Carolina. My ancestor, Thomas Drayton, was born in 1625 in Atherstone and died on the island of Barbados in 1701. His son was born in Atherstone in 1650 and died in the Carolina colony in Charleston in 1717. Have a look at the family tree in my website for further details of the later generations. There is a book about Michael Drayton by, I think, William Dugdale. His family connections are mentioned in the first chapter. Have a look at the links on my website – particularly those connected with the family. You can get in touch with me via the website. Looking forward to hearing from you in due course.