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Matric. 1695, B.A. 1699-1700, M.A. 1718. Rector of Storrington, 1721-1733.

Fifth son of Richard Bateson and Lucy Wheeler Gordon, William Henry Bateson was born on 3 June 1812 in Everton. He was educated at Shrewsbury School, and admitted as pensioner to St John's College on 12 October 1829. He graduated in 1836, senior optime in mathematics and third in the first class of the classical tripos (BA 1836, MA 1839, BD 1846, DD 1857). He was elected to fellowship in 1837 and became second master at Leicester collegiate school. He briefly studied for the bar, being admitted to Lincoln's Inn on 12 April 1836, before taking holy orders. He was ordained deacon on 1 December 1839, and priest c. 1840. Between 1840 and 1843 he was attached to the Cambridgeshire parish of Horningsea, and was Vicar of Madingley 1843-7.

Bateson was a tripos examiner at Cambridge and a successful private classics tutor, before becoming St John's College preacher in 1843, followed by steward, and then Senior Bursar 1846-57; a position from which he was able to restore financial security to St John's. In 1841 he was the Rede Lecturer, and for the period 1848-57 he was Public Orator of the university. Bateson was also a key link between two important reformative committees, serving as secretary to both the 1849 revising syndicate established to modify university statutes, and the 1852 royal commission on Cambridge which recommended general university improvements. Following his success as Senior Bursar, Bateson was elected as Master of St John's in 1857. Later that same year, on 11 June, he married Anna Aiken, with whom he had six children. In 1858, he served the office of Vice-Chancellor of the university, and in 1872 he as one of several academics appointed to the second royal commission on Oxford and Cambridge universities, which investigated the extent of their property and income. A strong believer in the improvement of education, he was on the Cambridge improvement board and was on the governing bodies for Shrewsbury and Rugby Schools. He was also the inaugural chairman of the Perse Girls' School, Cambridge, where he was regarded as an enthusiastic promoter of higher education for women.

Generally thought of as leader of the liberal party in academical matters, Bateson used his positions of Bursar and then Master of St John's to introduce reforms in the College, such as leading other Cambridge clergy in a successful campaign to abolish religious tests and liberalising St John's College statutes in 1848 and 1857. In 1880 he succeeded Chief Justice Cockburn on the 1877 statutory commission and was influential in framing new college statutes for St John's, which were effected in 1882, a year after his death. Bateson was responsible for the construction of the new chapel and lodge at St John's in 1865-9, personally financing the wooden-panelled ceilings, and a few weeks before his death he anonymously donated £500 to college funds. He died in the Master's Lodge on 27 March 1881, and was buried on 31 March in Madingley churchyard.

B.A. 1872

William Beale (died 1651) was an English royalist churchman, Master in turn of Jesus College, Cambridge and St John's College, Cambridge.
In 1642, Beale was active in raising funds for Charles I’s cause; urging St John’s and other colleges to send money and plate to the king at Nottingham. Oliver Cromwell failed to intercept Beale and the treasure in Huntingdonshire, but later arrested Beale in the College chapel along with the Masters of Jesus and Queens’ Colleges. The three men were transported to the Tower of London. He was removed from his Mastership by the earl of Manchester on 13 March 1644.
He died in Madrid on 1 October 1651.

Lady Eleanor Beauchamp was the second daughter of Richard de Beauchamp and Elizabeth de Berkeley. She married Thomas de Ros, 8th Baron de Ros, in 1423. After the death of her first husband in 1430, Eleanor married Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset. Her final marriage was to Walter Rokesley. She died in 1467 at Baynard’s Castle in London.

Edmund Beaufort was an English nobleman and a key protagonist in the English Wars of the Roses. A descendant of John of Gaunt, Edmund was the son of John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset, and Margaret Holland. He married Eleanor Beauchamp between 1431 and 1433, and the couple had ten surviving children. He was also the cousin of Henry VI of England and Richard, Duke of York, with whom he bitterly contested control of the crown following the deterioration in the health of Henry VI and his ability to rule. Tensions between Edmund and Richard culminated in a confrontation known as the First Battle of St Albans in 1455, in which Edmund was killed. The battle marked the beginning of a series of bloody conflicts between the Houses of York and Lancaster.

Henry Beaufort was an important military figure in the English Wars of the Roses. The son of Edmund Beaufort and Eleanor Beauchamp, Henry was born c.1436 and first fought alongside his father on the Lancastrian side at the First Battle of St Albans in 1455. In the nine years that followed, Henry continued to engage in a number of military campaigns against the Yorkists, culminating in his capture and execution at the Battle of Hexham in 1464. Henry died unmarried and without issue. He was buried at Hexham Abbey.

The father of Lady Margaret Beaufort, John Beaufort was the second son of John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset, and Margaret Holland, and a descendant of John of Gaunt. He was an English nobleman and a military commander during the Hundred Years’ War, accompanying his cousin, Henry V of England, on campaigns in France. In 1425, he was captured while fighting and imprisoned until his release in 1438. He married Margaret Beauchamp of Bletso in 1439. In 1443, he was created 1st Duke of Somerset and made a Knight of the Garter. Following his death in 1444, the dukedom passed to his brother, Edmund Beaufort.

Lady Margaret Beaufort was mother to King Henry VII of England and foundress of St. John’s College. Born on 31st May 1443 at Bletsoe Castle in Bedfordshire, she was the daughter of Margaret Beauchamp of Bletsoe and John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, and a descendant of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster. Margaret’s first marriage to John de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, took place c.1450, although this marriage was never recognised by Margaret herself and was dissolved in 1453. Her second marriage to Edmund Tudor, half-brother of King Henry VI of England, took place on 1st November 1455, when Margaret was twelve years of age. Soon after, Margaret fell pregnant with Edmund’s child. In November 1456, she was widowed when Edmund, fighting on the Lancastrian side of the Wars of the Roses, was captured by Yorkist forces and died in captivity at Carmarthen. A few months later, Margaret gave birth to her only son, the future Henry VII of England, at Pembroke Castle in Wales, where she was protected by her brother-in-law, Jasper Tudor.

In 1458, Margaret married Sir Henry Stafford, the son of Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham. While the couple bore no children, Margaret enjoyed a long and close relationship with her husband until his death in 1471. Margaret’s fourth and final marriage to Thomas Stanley, the Lord High Constable and King of Mann, took place in June 1472.

After the success of her son, Henry, in securing the crown at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, Margaret benefited significantly from her newfound authority as the King’s mother and wielded considerable power within the royal court. She was highly influential and a wealthy landowner and patron, generously donating money for the foundation of schools and colleges, including God’s House, Cambridge, which was refounded in 1505 as Christ’s College, and St. John’s College, founded in 1511 after her death with money from her estate. The Lady Margaret Professorship in Divinity, held respectively at Oxford and Cambridge universities, was established in her name in 1502.

Margaret died on 29th June 1509 and was buried in the Henry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey, in a tomb created by the Florentine sculptor, Pietro Torrigiano. She remains a central figure in the history of the early Tudor dynasty and in the foundation of St. John’s College.

A trusted official in the household of Lady Margaret Beaufort, treasurer to Thomas Wolsey, and bailiff of Cheshunt, Hertfordshire and possibly also of Kimbolton in Huntingdon. Bedell married Cecily Crathorne around 1506. He died in July 1518 and was buried in Westminster Abbey. In his will, Bedell attributed all of his wealth to Lady Margaret Beaufort.

Sister of John Hay Beith, alias the writer Ian Hay (B.A. 1898).

Benians was born in Goudhurst, Kent in 1880. His father was the headmaster of Bethany School in Goudhurst, and it was here that Benians received his schooling. He was admitted to St John's in 1899 and achieved his BA in 1902. He became Lightfoot Scholar in 1903, Allen Scholar in 1903, and achieved his MA as well as being the Adam Smith Prizeman in 1906. He also became a Fellow in 1906, and then in 1911 he was elected to the Albert Kahn Travelling Fellowship. For the period 1913-19, Benians was a Local Adviser to Indian Students. He was appointed Lecturer in History in 1910, became a Tutor in 1918, and Senior Tutor in 1927. In the same year he was made University Lecturer in History, specialising in the history of the British colonies and dependencies, and the United States of America. He was Master of St John's from 1933 until his death in 1952, and served as Vice-Chancellor of the University 1939-41. In 1939 he was awarded an honorary LittD from Trinity College Dublin, before then also becoming an Honorary Fellow in 1947.

Benians married Sylvia Mary Dodd, daughter of J. Thoedore Dodd, at St Giles', Oxford in 1918, and together they had one son and two daughters. He died on 13 February 1952.

Dr George Colin Lawder Bertram was born in Worcester in April 1911, the son of Frank Bertram, Deputy Director of Civil Aviation, Air Ministry. He read Natural Sciences at St John’s College, Cambridge, graduating BA in 1932 and gaining a PhD in 1939. He was awarded the Polar Medal in 1937, after taking part in the British Graham Land Exhibition from 1934-37 as Biologist.

Bertram was appointed Tutor at St John’s in 1945 and became Senior Tutor in 1965, serving in this position until 1972. During his time as a Tutor he was the Director of the Scott Polar Research Institute for eight years between 1949 and 1957. Throughout his life he published numerous papers and books on the arctic, zoological and population. He remained a Fellow of the College from 1972 until his death in 2001.

He married Kate Ricardo in 1939, and was survived by four sons.

Obituary in The Eagle: Vol 83, 2001, p. 69

Admitted to St. John's in 1696; matric. 1699; B.A. 1699/1700. Judge of the Prerogative Court, 1714-1751.

William Bill was Master of St John's (1546/7 to 1551), Vice-Chancellor of the University (1548) and twice Master of Trinity College (1551-1553, 1558-1561), Provost of Eton College (1558-1561) and Dean of Westminster (1560-1561).
Bill was born in Ashwell, Hertfordshire and had two brothers and two sisters. His brother, Thomas became physician to Henry VIII. William was educated at St John's and was elected a Fellow in 1534. He received his B.D. 1544-1546.

Third son of William Billingsley (d. 1553), haberdasher, and his wife, Elizabeth Hardy (or Harlow). Matriculated pensioner at St John's College in 1550; scholar, 1551. Billingsley did not take his degree, and was apprenticed to a haberdasher in London and rose to serve four terms as Master of the Haberdashers' Company. He was alderman of two London wards, was senior alderman in 1596, and elected Lord Mayor of London in December 1596. He was knighted in 1597. Billingsley translated works including Euclid's Elements of Geometry (1570). A 'Mathematical preface' was contributed to this by John Dee, in which he classified and described the mathematical arts, and corrected the translation of passages which Billingsley had failed to understand. Billingsley married first, Elizabeth Bourne (1541/2-1577), with whom he had five children; secondly, Bridget (d. 1588), daughter of Sir Christopher Draper and widow (husband's name not known); thirdly, Kathleen Killigrew, widow of [first name unknown] Trappe; fourthly (in 1598) Elizabeth (d. 1605/6), daughter of Richard Peacocke of Finchley and widow of Rowland Martyn; fifthly, Susan Tracey (d. 1633), widow of [first name unknown] Barger. As well as leaving money to St John's to found scholarships he left money to Emmanuel College to buy land.

Dr. Sandra Billington was born on 10th September 1943. After working in theatre including gaining a scholarship to RADA and working with Mike Leigh, she attended Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge. There, she became fascinated by folklore, theatre and disorder in the Middle Ages. She was Lecturer and Reader in Renaissance Theatre at the University of Glasgow from 1979 to 2003, a specialist in Shakespeare and folklore. She was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh from 1998 to 2005.
Her books include ‘Mock Kings in Medieval Society and Renaissance Drama’ (1991), ‘Midsummer: A cultural sub-text from Chretien de Troyes to Jean Michel’ (2001), and ‘Coming up for the third time’ (2011). She also edited ‘The Concept of the Goddess’ with Miranda Aldhouse-Green in 1986. Her book ‘A Social History of the Fool’ won the Folklore Society's Katharine Briggs Folklore Award in 1984. She also wrote an article on 16th Century Drama in St. John’s College, Cambridge which was published in February 1978 in the ‘Review of English Studies’ Vol. XXIX, Issue 113.

Geoffrey Blythe was educated at Eton College and King’s College, Cambridge, the latter of which he is recorded as having entered in 1483. He was ordained as a priest on 4th April 1496. From 1503 until his death, Blythe served as the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield. He was appointed president of the Council of Wales and the Marshes from 1512 to 1524.

William Bolton was a canon of the Augustinian order, prior of St. Bartholomew’s in West Smithfield, London, and master of the king’s works. While little information survives concerning the early years of his life, Bolton is known to have attended St. Mary’s College, Oxford, between 1501 and 1503, with his election at St. Bartholomew’s confirmed by the bishop of London in 1505. As a royal adminstrator, Bolton oversaw a number of important building projects, including the chapel of Henry VII and the monument to Lady Margaret Beaufort in Westminster Abbey, and from 1517, the reconstruction of New Hall in Boreham, Essex. He is cited as master of the king’s works in the will of Henry VII (1509), but is likely to have occupied this position from around 1504 onwards. In addition to his royal engagements, Bolton also oversaw important reconstruction of the priory church at St. Bartholomew’s between 1513 and 1517. In 1522, he received preferment as rector of Harrow on the Hill in Middlesex. He died in London in 1532 and was buried at St. Bartholomew’s.

Henry Dawes Bonsey was born the third son of William Henry Bonsey, of Slough, Buckinghamshire. He earned his BA from St John’s College, Cambridge in 1874. He was admitted to the Inner Temple in 1872, and called to the bar in 1875. He was a reporter for the Law Times, Queen’s Bench Division, and also stood as Recorder of Bedford from 1910-1912, and Judge of County Court No. 2 from 1911.

Bonsey married his wife, Helen Jane, in 1898. He died in Newcaste-upon-Tyne on the 12th of May 1919, aged 68.