Deptford's Famous People

There are many famous personalities that have links with Deptford:

Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) the 17th century diarist often visited the Dockyard when he was Clerk to the Navy Board.

His friend and fellow-diarist John Evelyn (1620-1706) lived here in Deptford, in the manor house called Sayes Court.

Grinling Gibbons (1648-1720) was a famous wood-carver first discovered by John Evelyn when he was working near Sayes Court. He worked on the royal palaces and St. Paul's Cathedral.

Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) the Elizabethan poet and playwright was murdered in a Deptford tavern in 1593. He was buried at St Nicholas, along with other well-known seafarers and shipbuilders.

In 1698 Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia, spent several months studying shipbuilding in Deptford, where he stayed at Sayes Court which belonged to the Evelyn family.
John Penn II (1805-1878), marine engineer, had factories in Deptford and Greenwich making ships' engines.

The novelist Joyce Cary (1888-1957) lived in Deptford.

Many of the great voyages of Discovery began at Deptford. Drake, Frobisher, Raleigh and much later, in his ship the Endeavour, Captain James Cook sailed from here to Australia and New Zealand in 1768.