Catholicism. John Dryden was born on 4 April 1567 in London, England. His father was William Dryden, who worked as a lawyer, and his mother was Anne Browne, of Irish descent. He had two older brothers named Charles and Robert and one younger sister named Mary. The family lived at St. Dunstan's in the West End of London. When he was about nine years old, his father died, and then his mother too was killed when she fell from her horse while out riding with her husband. You can read more about this in our article on John Dryden's life. After this tragedy, there is no record of Dryden being enrolled into any church, but it seems very likely that he converted to Catholicism like his parents before him. There were many Catholics in power after the English Reformation, so it isn't surprising that someone with John Dryden's background would choose to join them. However, there is no evidence that he changed his name after making this decision; instead, he just went back to using his original surname. Dryden grew up during a time of great political upheaval in England.