He played an active role during the planning for the King James Version of the Bible, and his death from a peritonsillar abscess is said to have considerably delayed commencement of the work. He left eleven children to be cared for by his widow, with paltry income from his prebend at Peterborough and the generosity of his patron, William Barlow. [Note: McClure (p. 104) indicates Lively predeceased his wife, leaving eleven orphans.]
McClure, Alexander. (1858) The Translators Revived: A Biographical Memoir of the Authors of the English Version of the Holy Bible. Mobile, Alabama: R. E. Publications (republished by the Maranatha Bible Society, 1984 ASIN B0006YJPI8 )
Nicolson, Adam. (2003) God's Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible. New York: HarperCollins ISBN0-06-095975-4