ABSTRACT
The elder Robert Dow was born about 1523. He was the second son of Henry Dove of Stradbroke in Suffolk. Dow replaced William Burd as the Customer Outward soon after the latter's removal. The first extant account of 'Robert Dove', as collector of a subsidy of tuimage and poundage on exports, covers 1577-79. He was remembered particularly for his benefactions and charitable activities. On 14 May he was buried in the chancel of St Botolph's Aldgate, where his wife was buried, and where the Merchant Taylors' Company erected a monument to him as 'one of the Customers in the Port of London'. The music books of Dow's son Robert and the outline of his life are well known. A patent issued to the Spanish Company on its foundation in 1577 lists the elder Robert Dow as a member, together with John Byrd and Philip Smyth.
