Thomas Dawtrey was born in 1652 to William and Amy(nee Strutt) Dawtrey and baptised at St Mary the Virgin, Hadleigh in Suffolk on 7^th February 1652. While the Dawtrey family was from Petworth in Sussex, Thomas's mother Amy's family were from Hadleigh in Suffolk, and many of his siblings were baptised in Hadleigh. Thomas was educated at St John's College, Oxford, maticulating on 2^nd April 1669.