Morley’s father was a brewer who lived in Norwich, so it is likely that Morley was born there. He may have been a choirboy in Norwich Cathedral. We know that in 1583 he got the job of organist there. In a book he published later in his life he said that William Byrd was his master. If this means that he had lessons from Byrd he must have travelled away from Norwich. In 1588 he got a degree from Oxford, and soon afterwards he became an organist at St. Paul's Cathedral in London.