Thomas Palfreyman
English musician and writer

Thomas Palfreyman (d. 1589/90) was an English author and musician.
Life
He was a gentleman of the chapel royal in Edward VI's reign, together with Thomas Tallis, Richard Farrant, William Hunnis, and others. He continued in office till 1589, apparently the year of his death. John Parkhurst, the bishop of Norwich, addressed an epigram to Palfreyman and Robert Couch jointly, and complimented them on their proficiency in music and theology.
Palfreyman made his will on 1 December 1589. he left small sums to his son Richard, and to Richard's children Thomas and Anne. The will was proved by his wife Mary on 30 May 1590.
Works
The following works, all religious, are assigned to him:
‘An Exhortation to Knowledge and Love of God,’ London, 1560.
‘Tho.
The public source identifies “Thomas Palfreyman” as english musician and writer. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Thomas, Palfreyman and English.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7792984. VIAF identifies the subject as 2815905. The Library of Congress control number is n84121204. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1589, 1590 and 1560.
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This entry incorporates text from “Thomas Palfreyman” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.