 He was the son of Margaretha Hoefnagel  and the wealthy merchant Lodewijk Blommaert (1537–1591), who in 1581 was schepen of Antwerp and in 1583 captain at Fort Lillo on the eastern border of the Scheldt.Margaretha died when Samuel was young and his father moved the family to London, when Antwerp was occupied in 1585 by the Duke of Parma.He remarried but died in 1591.