John Taylor was a contemporary of William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser, Ben Jonson, Queen Elizabeth I, Kings James I, Charles I and Oliver Cromwell. He dubbed himself “The Water Poet” resulting from his career on the water – in the Elizabethan navy and later a member of the guild of Thames watermen. He was born in Gloucester and apprenticed to a London waterman at an early age. He was pressed into the navy in the Earl of Essex’s fleet and made 16 voyages in the ships of Queen Elizabeth I serving in the battles of Cadiz and the Azores. He retired from service in the navy due to a lame leg and became a Thames waterman ferrying people back and forth across the Thames from north side to south bank theaters. For 14 years he was collector of the wine taxes exacted by the lieutenant of the Tower from all ships which carried wine up river. His pamphlet “Drinke and Welcome” describes the various types of drinks available in the 17th century. Even though he was a minor English poet, he was prominent in the Jacobean literary world with his ready wit and ambition. He is attributed with being the first person to publish the death of Shakespeare. He was a royalist very popular in the court of Charles I organizing many water pageants for the court. He wrote many witty political pamphlets. During his lifetime he had over 150 publications with his ambition being to make his fame through publishing. He was not a sophisticated writer but he was a keen observer of people and styles in 17th century. By his own admission he had a knack for easy rhyming and was an early author of the palindrome. During the English Civil War he moved to Oxford but at the close of the war he returned to London and died there. His work is studied by social historians in the present time.