Topsell, Edward (1572-02-03 - )

Topsell was the son of John Topsell (d. 1573), baptised in Sevenoaks, Kent on 3 February 1572. He matriculated sizar at Christ's College, Cambridge in 1587. He held a number of different livings in Sussex, Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire from 1592 to 1615. During that time, he married and had a daughter, Mary (b. 1600), and a son, Abel. From April 1604 he was perpetual curate of St Botolph Aldersgate. On 12 August 1612 he married Mary, the widow of Gregory Seaton. He published several popular works: "The Reward of Religion: Delivered in Sundrie Lectures upon the Book of Ruth"(1596), on marriage and duty, reissued in 1601 and 1613. "Time's Lamentation" (1599) , "The Householder" (1610), "The Historie of Foure-Footed Beastes" I1607) and "The Historie of Serpents" (1608). These works interwove natural history and spiritual edification, in many places repeating or translating works from elsewhere. Topsell died in 1625 and was buried at St Botolph.