Tomkins was born in
St David's in
Pembrokeshire in 1586. His father Thomas Tomkins, a
vicar choral at
St David's Cathedral, became a minor canon at
Gloucester Cathedral by 1594, and it is thought that John was a chorister there. In 1606 John Tomkins succeeded
Orlando Gibbons as organist of
King's College, Cambridge. After studying music there for ten years, he received the degree of Mus. Bac. in June 1608, on condition of composing a piece for performance at the graduation ceremony.
Phineas Fletcher, a friend of Tomkins at King's College, made him an interlocutor (named Thomalin) in three of his eclogues. Tomkins left Cambridge and in 1619 became organist of
St Paul's Cathedral. Fletcher, then in Norfolk, addressed a poem to him on the occasion. In 1625 Tomkins became gentleman-extraordinary of the
Chapel Royal, and gentlemen-in-ordinary in 1627. ==References==