Little is known about Tallis' early life, but there seems to be consensus that he was born in the early 16th century, towards the end of the reign of Henry VII.

 

His first known appointment to a musical position was 1530-31 organist at Dover Priory, and in 1532 a Benedictine priory in Dover.

 

His career took him to London, then (probably in the fall of 1538) to the Augustinian Abbey of Holy Cross in Waltham until the abbey was dissolved in 1540.

 

Tallis acquired a book upon the dissolution of Waltham Holy Cross Monastery; one of the treatises in it is by Leonel Power, and the treatise itself prohibits successive unison, fifths and octaves. Tallis' next post was in Canterbury Cathedral.

 

He was next sent to court as Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1543, where he worked for Henry VIII, Edward VI.

 

Tallis married around 1552; his wife Joan outlived him by four years. Apparently they had no children.