Thomas Drury (8 May 1551 – 26 August 1603), government informer, messenger and swindler, is noted for having been one of the main people responsible for accusations of heresy, blasphemy and seditious atheism on the part of the Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe given to the Privy Council in May 1593. Within a couple of weeks, Marlowe—at just 29 the same age as William Shakespeare, but one of the single greatest influences upon his work—was reported dead.