John Speed

John Speed (1542-1629) was a historian, now best remembered as the cartographer whose maps of English counties are often found framed in homes throughout the UK.

He was born in Cheshire, and went into his father's tailoring business. While working in London, his knowledge of history led him into learned circles, and it was with the encouragement of William Camden that he began his Historie of Great Britaine, which was published in 1611. Although Speed probably had access to historical sources that are now lost to us, his work as a historian is considered mediocre and secondary in importance to his map-making, of which his most important contribution is probably his town plans, many of which provide the first visual record of the British towns they depict.