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Francis Puryer White was born in London on 26th October 1893. He was the son of John Francis White, a schoolmaster. He was educated at Stanley Higher Elementary School and then at Owen’s School both in North London. He then entered St. John’s College as a student of mathematics in 1912, gaining a first class in part I of the Mathematics tripos in 1913 and again in Part II in 1915. He was elected in 1916 to the Isaac Newton Studentship in Astronomy and Optical Physics. There followed a short period of war service, from which he returned to St. John’s in 1919, where he was elected a Fellow. He remained a Fellow of St. John’s for the rest of his life. He was appointed a College Lecturer in 1920 and a University Lecturer in 1926 and remained a member of the mathematical teaching staff until he retired in 1961. He was Director of Studies in Mathematics, from 1945 until 1959.
When White returned to Cambridge in 1919 he came increasingly under the influence of H. F. Baker, then Lowndean Professor of Astronomy and Geometry. Baker’s real interest was in geometry, and his influence was a primary factor in causing White to devote his energies to geometry rather than astronomy. From 1922 to 1930 White wrote a series of papers on the geometry of conies rational normal curves, and other special plane curves, which were all extremely elegant. But White's main contribution to geometry was his influence on the young men reading mathematics. His enthusiasm for geometry sparked off a similar enthusiasm in others. These were the young men who went on to join the Baker school, which was extremely active from the mid-twenties to the mid-thirties. The main activity of this was a seminar, known as " Baker's Saturday tea-party ", which Baker and White presided over in person.
White served on the council of London Mathematical Society from 1923-47. He was Honorary Secretary from 1926-44 and Vice-president from 1944-46. His continuous service of 24 years on the Council of the London Mathematical Society included 18 years as secretary and simultaneously, from 1924 to 1936, he was Mathematical Secretary of the Cambridge Philosophical Society (of which he later became President). In addition to the normal duties in connection with the running of the societies, White did a vast amount of editing of mathematical papers, and his contemporaries were familiar with the sight of him carrying round proof sheets and working on them whenever he had an opportunity. There was less paper work and travelling to London to do during the war, but the responsibility of keeping the Society going during this period fell on him.
But White's services to his University and his College were not limited to mathematics. He was a member of the Cambridge University Press Syndicate continuously from 1931 to 1958, and on the Library Syndicate from 1949 to 1960. He also served on the University Financial Board, and on the Ely Diocesan Board of Finance. He was one of the local secretaries when the British Association met in Cambridge in 1938.
White was dedicated to serving St. John’s College for his whole life. As a regular Chapel-goer, he was active in the affairs of the College Mission, and he served the College in a number of minor offices, including that of Tutorial Bursar. He was also Senior Treasurer of the Committee for the St. John's College Mission at Hoxton from 1921. But his greatest service was in the office of Librarian, which he held from 1948 to 1961. He had always been a collector of early mathematical and scientific books, many of which he later gave to the University Library, and he was well equipped for a librarian's duties. Every aspect of the Library received his loving attention, and his labours to arrange and catalogue vast numbers of documents were unceasing. The College records, particularly the Records of Admissions, claimed his constant attention, and on his retirement under the statutory age limit from the Librarianship, the College fittingly recognised his services by creating for him the special office of Keeper of the College Records.
White was married to Barbara Dale, daughter of Sir Alfred Dale, Vice-Chancellor of Liverpool University, whom he married in 1934. She was for many years Fellow and Bursar of Newnham College. White died on 11th July 1969.

Rev. Edward Earle Raven was born on the 27th of December 1889, the son of John E. Raven (a barrister). He was educated at Uppingham School before coming up to Cambridge to study Classics at St John’s College.

Deeply religious, Raven had always been destined for the church, and after his graduation he was ordained in 1914. He briefly worked as an army chaplain and then as Head of Maurice Hostel, before becoming chaplain at the College in 1921. He was awarded a fellowship in 1923, and then become the Dean of College in 1927. He held this post until his death.

Raven married his wife Margaret in 1930, and they had one son and three daughters. He published one book, The Heart of Christ’s Religion, and enjoyed cricket in his spare time. Raven died on the 2nd of December, 1951.

Giulio de’ Medici was born in 1478, a few months after the death of his father Giuliano de’ Medici. His parents had not been married, but as they were betrothed, Giulio was declared legitimate.

The young Giulio was educated by his uncle, and made both a Knight of Rhodes and Grand Prior of Capua. After his cousin Giovanni de’ Medici became Pope Leo X, Giulio was made cardinal on the 28th of September 1513. He was a favoured candidate for the papacy after Leo X’s death, but ultimately, Adrian VI was elected instead.

It was after Adrian VI’s death that Giulio was chosen as the next pope, on the 18th of November 1523. He took the papal name Clement VII. The political situation during Clement’s papacy was a complex one. Francis I and Emperor Charles V were at war, and despite the Medici family’s friendship with Charles, Clement sided with France. Clement helped organise the League of Cognac, ad was imprisoned in the Castle of Sant’ Angelo when Rome was attacked by Charles’ allies. He took refuge there again during the later sack of Rome. Eventually, Clement settled on terms of peace with Charles.

Clement was still a prisoner in Sant’ Angelo when he was visited by an envoy of King Henry VIII. Henry sought a divorce from his wife, Catherine of Aragon, and to marry Anne Boleyn. Although Clement made many concessions to Henry’s demands, he ultimately resisted the request to grant a divorce. Henry was forbidden to marry while Rome deliberated on whether his marriage to Catherine was legitimate, but secretly married Anne Boleyn anyway. The death of Archbishop Warham in England allowed Henry to install Thomas Cranmer as Archbishop of Canterbury, who proceeded to pronounce the marriage between Henry and Anne valid. Clement excommunicated Henry from the Catholic Church and declared his both his divorce from Catherine and his marriage to Anne as null and void. The marriage between Catherine and Henry was decreed fully legitimate, and England broke with the Catholic Church.

Clement VII died on the 25th September, 1534.

The exact date of Anne Boleyn’s birth is unknown, but it was likely be around the year 1500. Her parents were Thomas Boleyn, earl of Ormond and of Wiltshire, and his wife Elizabeth. She was the second of their three surviving children, another of which was Mary Boleyn, a future mistress of King Henry VIII.
Anne learned the skills of a court lady in the households of Margaret of Austria, Mary Tudor, and Claude, queen of France. After leaving for Austria in 1513, she did not return to England until 1521. There, Anne’s continental education won her many suitors.

Her future husband, King Henry VIII, began to take an interest in Anne somewhere around 1526. At this time, Anne’s sister had just ceased to be Henry’s mistress, and it is likely the king was looking for a replacement. As well as this, Henry had already decided that his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon had to be annulled. Anne refused Henry’s advances until he made her an offer of marriage. The wedding did not take place until 1533, after Henry was able to divorce his first due to the English Reformation. Anne and her family had thrown themselves behind attacks on the church and their influence during the interim. Anne was already pregnant with the future Queen Elizabeth I at the time of her marriage, likely out of a belief that a pregnancy would encourage Henry to commit himself to her. The couple were married in January, and Anne was crowned queen later in the year.
After the birth of Elizabeth, Anne’s subsequent pregnancies ended in miscarriages. The marriage was strained by her failure to produce a male heir, a poor relationship with Henry’s daughter by Catherine of Aragon (the future Mary I), and Anne’s public unpopularity as queen. Despite this, she exercised public influence to engage in foreign affairs and religious reform.

By 1536, King Henry had become enamoured with Jane Seymour, who had served as lady-in-waiting to Queen Anne; and Anne had lost a powerful ally in the form of Thomas Cromwell. With many who wished to see her gone, Anne was accused of adultery several times over. She, her brother George, and several other men were arrested and sent to the Tower of London. Although Anne was innocent, and adultery by a queen would not be considered treason until six years later, she was beheaded at the Tower on the 19th of May, after her marriage to Henry was declared null and void. She died without ever confessing her guilt.

Of Threshfield. Admitted 1639. BA 1643 from Christ's College. Rector of a moiety of Linton, Yorkshire. Buried on 6 May 1674 in Linton church. Nephew Richard Hewitt placed a commemorative brass in Linton church (see correspondence and papers of Robert F Scott, former reference D90.862).

Ronald Derek Hayes was a student of St John’s College. After being educated at Latymer Upper School, he came up to the Cambridge to read Geography and received a grant from the Worts Fund to study the peasant economy of Northern Portugal. He gave a talk to the Purchas Society about his research, and became a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Hayes died on the 30th August 2018, at the age of eighty-six.

Second and youngest son of Maurice Johnson of Stamford, dyer, and Jane, daughter of Henry Lacy. Maurice Johnson held office as alderman and M.P. On Maurice Johnson's death in 1551, Robert was brought up by his uncle. He attended King's School, Peterborough, and Clare College, Cambridge. He transferred from Clare College to Trinity and was admitted Fellow there in 1563. In 1569 he was appointed chaplain to the Lord Keeper of Cambridge University, Sir Nicholas Bacon. Known for his Puritan views. Founded Oakham and Uppingham Schools in Rutland. In his will he bequeathed money to found scholarships at Sidney Sussex, St John's, Clare and Emmanuel Colleges in Cambridge.

Heitland was born in 1847 in Colkirk, Norfolk, and was educated at Dedham Grammar School and Shrewsbury School. Being the son of an unsuccessful gentleman farmer he had to rely on a scholarship to enter St John's College. Heitland graduated BA as Senior Classic in 1871 and was immediately elected a Fellow of the College. He was College Lecturer in classics 1871-85 and Tutor 1883-93. Heitland was a prolific author, mostly of classical works. His most distinguished publications were 'Agricola' (1921), on agricultural labour in antiquity, and the 'History of the Roman Republic' (1909), which in its day was compared to Mommsen's great work. In 1901 Heitland married the daughter of the Master of St John's, Henry Bateson. Margaret Bateson was a journalist and stalwart of the suffragette movement. Heitland died in 1935.

Obituary in The Eagle: Vol 49, Mich 1935, p119

Ctizen of Canterbury, [of Monkton, Thanet, Kent, probably the pensioner adm. 1612, B.A.1616]

The Reverend Canon Edwin Hill was born in 1843 at the Collegiate School in Leicester, where his father, the Reverend Abraham Hill, was Headmaster. He matriculated at St John’s in 1862 and graduated BA 5th Wrangler in 1866. He was elected to the Fellowship of St John’s in 1867 serving until 1890. During this time he was a Steward 1874-5 and Tutor 1875-1889, before moving to Cockfield, Suffolk to take up the post of Rector. He held that position for 40 years, including a period 1901-19 as Rural Dean of Lavenham. He was made Honorary Canon of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich in 1914 until his death in 1933.

Hill died in June 1933 at home in Bury St Edmunds. He had never married and left a substantial proportion of his estate St John’s College.
Obituary in The Eagle: Vol 48, Mich 1933, p. 67

Sir John Sandys was born in May 1844 in Leicester, to the Reverend Timothy of Calcutta and Rebecca. He came into residence at St John’s in Michaelmas Term 1863. He obtained many awards during his studies including the Bell scholarship at the end of his first year of study, Browne Medal and Porson Prize in 1865, the Porson Prize for a second time the following year, Members’ Prize in 1866 and 1867, before graduating BA as Senior Classic in 1867. The same year, he was elected to the Fellowship, and he was to remain a Fellow until his death. He served as a College tutor for 30 years between 1870 and 1900, and as Public Orator for the University between 1876 and his retirement in 1919.
Sandys wrote a number of books on classical subjects, most notably a 'History of Classical Scholarship'. Published in three volumes between 1903 and 1908, it still remains a valuable reference guide. Sandys married Mary Grainger in 1880, was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1909 and died in 1922. He was a generous benefactor to the College, and also bequeathed a sum of money to the University to found a studentship.

Obituary in The Eagle: Vol. 43, Michaelmas Term 1922, p. 15

Of London. Girdler, served as Master of the Girdlers' Company. Charitable bequests by him included to the Girdlers' Company to fund almshouses, and to Brasenose College, Oxford. He is an ancestor of the actor, broadcaster, comedian and writer, Michael Palin.

Of Lancashire. Baptised 17 Dec. 1745. Died 3 Feb. 1817. Attended Sedbergh Grammar School. Entered St John's as a sizar, 12 August 1762. Fellow of St John's from 22 March 1768. President of the Faculty of Medicine, 1787 to 1802. Professor of chemistry, 1773 - 1793. Regius professor of physic, 1793 - 1813. Physician to Addenbrooke's Hospital, 1785 - 1817. Knighted in 1796.

Born at Darton, Yorkshire. Matriculated St John's 1844; Scholar, 1847; B.A. (17th Wrangler) 1848; Tyrwhitt Hebrew Scholar, 1851; M.A. 1851. Ordained deacon (Oxford) 1848; priest, 1848; curate of Bicester, Oxon., 1848-9; curate of Brighouse, Yorks., 1849-51. Usher at Bradford Grammar School, 1851-71. Curate of Hartshead with Clifton, Yorks., 1859-73; curate of Mirfield, 1873-8. Latterly of King's End House, Bicester

Thomas Watson was born near Durham in 1515. Watson matriculated in 1529 and received his B.A. in 1532/3 and his M.A. in 1536. He received his degree in theology in 1543, the year in which he became domestic chaplain to Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester.
On the accession of Queen Mary, Watson was admitted Master 28 September 1553, but he soon left the College, being appointed Dean of Durham 18 November 1553; he was then appointed Bishop of Lincoln by Papal Bull dated 24 March 1556-1557, but was deprived of his bishopric on the accession of Queen Elizabeth I and spent the rest of his life in imprisonment or restraint of various kinds.

For more information see: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

Robert Jenkin was born c.1656 on the Isle of Thanet, Kent, and was the son of Thomas and Mary Jenkin. He was educated at the King's School Canterbury, before matriculating at St John's College, Cambridge in 1674. He obtained his BA in 1678, after which he was admitted to a fellowship on the foundress's foundation in March 1680, and achieved his MA 1681. Retaining his fellowship, he entered holy orders and was initially presented to the vicarage of Waterbeach, Cambridge (1680-89), before moving to become chaplain to Bishop John Lake. Lake then collated him to the precentorship of Chichester Cathedral in 1688. He was a controversial figure, who opposed King James' ecclesiastical policy and supported the Nonjuring Schism. In 1691 Jenkin relinquished his preferments, but was able to retain his college fellowship. In 1696 he published his most successful work, The Reasonableness and Certainty of the Christian Religion. Upon the death of Henry Gower in 1711, Jenkin became the Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity, as well as Master of St John's College. New legislation in 1715 led to a vote being taken in 1717, which forced Jenkin to remove the Nonjuring fellows from the College, for which he was heavily criticised by his Nonjuring contemporaries. He died on 7 April 1727, whilst living with his brother, Henry Jenkin, at the rectory in South Runcton, Norfolk. He was buried in Holme Chapel in South Runcton, where a mural monument with a Latin inscription was erected to his memory.

Son of Nathaniel Chevalier, born c. 1730, at Casterton. He went to school at Stamford, Lincolnshire. He was admitted as sizar to St John's College, and graduated BA (1750-1), MA (1754), BD (1762), and DD (1777, Lit. Reg.). He was a Fellow of the College 1754-75, and Master 1775-89. He was also University Vice-Chancellor 1776-7, and ordained as a priest at Cambridge in 1754. He died on 7 March 1789.

Son of Richard Craven. Born c. 1730 at Gouthwaite Hall, Nidderdale (West Riding of Yorkshire), he was educated at Sedbergh. He was admitted as sizar to St John's College in 1749, and graduated BA (1753), MA (1756), BD (1763), and DD (1789, Lit. Reg.). He was a Fellow of the College 1758-89, and Master 1789-1815. He was also University Vice-Chancellor in 1790. He was ordained deacon in Chester in 1756, and priest in Lincoln in 1759. For a time he was assistant Master at Harrow. He was Professor of Arabic 1770-95, and Lord Almoner's Reader in Arabic, 1770-1815. He died on 28 January 1815.

Son of Joseph Lambert, born in 1677 in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire. He was admitted to St John's College as a pensioner in 1693, achieving his BA in 1696/7, his MA in 1700, and being appointed to a fellowship in 1699. He was ordained as a priest on 6 January 1705/6, and achieved his BD in 1707, his DD in 1718, and was the Lady Margaret preacher for the College 1722-1734. He succeeded Robert Jenkin as Master in 1727; a position he retained until his death on 25 January 1734/5. He was also Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge 1727-8, and again 1729-30.