Background
His father was Martin Fotherby of Great Grimsby in Lincolnshire.
His father was Martin Fotherby of Great Grimsby in Lincolnshire.
He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge (sizar 1573, scholar 1575, Bachelor 1576/77, Master of Arts 1580, Bachelor's Degree 1587).
Fotherby"s date of birth is not recorded but he is stated to have been 70 when he died. He became a fellow of Trinity in 1579. He was vicar of several Kentish parishes and became Archdeacon of Canterbury and a prebendary of the Canterbury Cathedral in 1595 and Dean of Canterbury in 1615.
He died in 1619 and was buried in the Lady Chapel at Canterbury Cathedral.His monument is described as "a bone-encrusted tomb-chest is a fine example of that obsessive early seventeenth-century morbidity which repelled later, more squeamish observers".
As Dean, he is recorded as reinvigorating the musical life of the Cathedral.