Saint Adrian is believed to have been born between 630 and 637 AD and according to Saint Bede was a a Berber. Pope Vitalian offered Saint Adrian the vacant archbishopric of Canterbury but Saint Adrian turned it down, recommending to a monk from a neighboring monastery by the name of Andrew. When offered it again, he instead suggested Theodore of Tarsus (Theodore would later be honored as Saint Theodore of Canterbury) to Pope Vitalian. The Pope accepted the recommendation on the grounds that Saint Adrian accompany him to Britain. The two set out on May 27th, 668 AD and arrived in England at the end of May in 669 AD.
Upon arrival, Saint Adrian was made the abbot of the monastery of Saints Peter and Paul (but would later be renamed Saint Augustine's) at Canterbury. Saint Adrian became a renowned administrator of the monastery and soon the abbey came to have substantial influence. Saint Adrian lived for another 39 years after arriving in England, spending all of them presiding over the monastery at Canterbury. He died on January 9th, 710 AD and his relics were re-deposited in the new monastery on January 9th, 1091. His feast day is the same day of his reburial, January 9th.