Bodleian Library, Oxford - William Camden - famous Tudor historian, born in London in 1551, the son of Sampson and Elizabeth Camden. As a young boy, he went to Christ's Hospital School. When he was 12, he caught the plague but luckily survived. He was sent to St Paul's School when he was 13 and, at 15, he went to Oxford University. He later wrote that, as a boy and a young man, he spent all his spare time researching his favourite subject - history. When he was 24, William became a schoolmaster at Westminster School, later becoming headmaster. In his holidays he travelled around Britain, researching its past and reading the works of other historians. At the age of 35, he published a book called Britannia. Written in Latin, this book was a detailed account of major events in British history. After the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, he was asked to translate the account of the plotters' trial into Latin. In the last years of his life, William concentrated on writing a history of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The first part of his history, or Annals, was published in his lifetime and the second after his death at the age of 72. William Camden is buried in Westminster Abbey. - ?TopFoto / Woodmansterne