The first recorded biographical information we have is that in 1532 Tallis was the organist of Dover Priory, a small community, a daughter house of the Benedictine monastery at Canterbury. Whilst Dover Priory was probably too small to maintain a full professional choir, perhaps there was an occasional choir of men’s voices? The connections with Canterbury would presumably have provided Tallis with some further choral contact.

Tallis’ departure from Dover must have been no later than 1535, since following a visit by the king’s Commissioners the monastery was dissolved in the autumn of that year. His next appointment was at the London Church of St Mary at Hill in the City of London. Records show that he was employed in 1537-8 though it is not specified in what capacity – organist or singer. This appointment was significant for Tallis’ career development since the musicians at St Mary at Hill traditionally had strong connections with their counterparts at the Chapel Royal, and musicians from the Chapel would be employed to augment the parish choir on special occasions.

Tallis’ next career move was to an appointment at the Augustinian Abbey Church at Waltham, nearly 20 miles north of London. From his absence in the records at St Mary at Hill we can surmise that this move was around the autumn of 1538.

Waltham Abbey was a wealthy institution and maintained a Lady Chapel choir of professional singers. Tallis’ tenure there was short lived however as Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries was underway. In March 1540 Waltham became the last abbey to be dissolved, but unlike many others it was not refounded as a cathedral. Tallis received 20 shillings in lieu of wages and a similar amount as a “reward”.

The Priory at Canterbury had already been dissolved and refounded as a secular cathedral and it is evident that the music there was given great importance. Perhaps Tallis had some connections he could use from his Dover days in order to gain a position, or perhaps his reputation was already such that the Chapter sought him out.

Either way Tallis’ career continued to flourish and it was only two years later that he was appointed a Gentleman (singer) at the Chapel Royal. In the Tudor age the Chapel Royal was the foremost musical institution in the land and having been appointed to this most prestigious post Tallis was to remain there for the next four decades until his death in 1585.