Likely to be Henry Stanhope, son of Sir John Stanhope (1412-1493) and Elizabeth Talbot. Henry Stanhope married Joan Rochford of Stoke Rochford around 1476. Their son, Edmund Stanhope, was buried in the chapel at Houghton.
Likely to be Edward Stanhope, born at Rampton in or around the early 1470s, son of Sir Thomas Stanhope, and a member of the prominent Nottinghamshire Stanhope family. Edward fought both at the Battle of Stoke in 1487 and at the Battle of Blackheath in 1497, whereupon he was knighted for his valour. He served as Sheriff of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire; Steward of Wakefield; and Constable of Sandale Castle, West Yorkshire. He was married first to Avelina Clifton, daughter of Sir Gervas Clifton, and second, to Elizabeth Bourchier, daughter of Foulk Bourchier, Lord Fitz-Waren.
Thomas Crick was born in April 1801, the son of Thomas Crick (Caius, 1774), Rector of Little Thurlow Suffolk. Educated at Norwich and Felsted, Crick was admitted Sizar to St John’s in 1818. He matriculated in 1819 and graduated BA in 1923, Bachelor of Divinity in 1833.
He was a Fellow at St John’s between 1825 and 1848, serving as a Tutor 1831-46, President 1839-46, and Public Orator 1836-48. During this time as a Fellow, he was also Rector of Little Thurlow, Suffolk, before moving to Staplehurst in Kent. He was Rector there until he died in 1876.
Born at Rouen in Normandy, the second son of Richard, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, Edward IV was the first Yorkist king of England and a key protagonist in the English Wars of the Roses. He became king in March 1461, after the defeat of the Lancastrian army at the Battle of Towton, and reigned until 1470, when he was overthrown. In 1471, Edward regained control of the crown and reigned again until his death in 1483. He was wedded to Elizabeth Woodville and the couple had ten children, including Elizabeth of York, the wife and Queen of Henry VII of England.
Beauchamp, Eleanor, Duchess of Somerset
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.
Beaufort, Henry, Duke of Somerset
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.
Beaufort, Edmund, Duke of Somerset
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.
Beaufort, John, Duke of Somerset
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.
Robert Leslie Howland was born in 1905 to Robert Howland and Mary Helen Turner in Watford. In 1913 the family moved to New York, where he attended the Noble School, before returning to Great Britain to attend a Preparatory School in Dundee, followed by Shrewsbury School.
He matriculated at St John’s in 1924 to read Classics, and graduated BA in 1928. He taught briefly at Eton College, before returning to St John’s after being elected to the Fellowship on 1929. He remained a Fellow the rest of his life. He was appointed Tutor in 1932, and began lecturing at the Classical Faculty two years later. He became a Faculty Assistant Lecturer in 1936 and a University Lecturer in 1938. After serving in the Second World War, he returned to the College and became Senior Proctor 1951-52, Senior Tutor in 1956, and was elected President in 1963. Howland served as Warden of Madingley Hall, succeeding Edward Miller, in 1965 and remained in that post until his retirement in 1975.
Howland was an accomplished shot-putter, having competed for the British National Athletic Team from 1927 to 1939, and representing Great Britain at the Amsterdam Olympics in 1928. In 1950, he won the Cambridgeshire title aged 45.
Howland died in 1986 age 80 leaving two sons and one daughter.
Obituary in The Eagle: Vol 71, 1987, p55
Accessible online at:
https://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/Eagle/Eagle%20Volumes/1980s/Eagle_1987.pdf
Talbot, Elizabeth, Duchess of Norfolk
Lady Elizabeth Talbot was a daughter of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, and Lady Margaret Beauchamp. She was married to John de Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk.
Grey, Thomas, 2nd Marquess of Dorset
Thomas Grey was an English landowner, courtier and peer. He was the son of Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset, and Cecily Bonville, and the grandson of Queen Elizabeth Woodville. The wife of Henry VII of England, Elizabeth of York, was the half-sister of the 1st Marquess, and the younger Thomas became a ward of the king in 1492. He was made a knight of the Bath in 1494 and a knight of the Garter in 1501. As a prominent courtier, Thomas took part in a number of diplomaticmissions overseas and fulfilled various duties at court. He was also an active soldier and was present at the siege of Tournai and the Battle of the Spurs in 1513. He was married to (1) Eleanor St John and (2) Margaret Wotton. On his death in 1530, Thomas Grey was one of the wealthiest men in England, the owner of multiple large estates. He was buried at Astley in Warwickshire.
Roger Lupton was an English lawyer, Provost of Eton College, and chaplain to both Henry VII and Henry VIII of England. He was born in Sedbergh, Yorkshire and studied at Cambridge University. He was elected Fellow and Provost of Eton College in 1503/4, a position he retained until 1535. Lupton financed the foundation of Sedbergh School from 1525 and in 1527, established six scholarships at St. John’s College, Cambridge, to be awarded to students of Sedbergh School. He was an executor of Henry VII’s will. After his death in 1539/40, Lupton was buried at Eton College, in a side chapel commissioned by him.
Thomas Bourchier was an English cardinal and Archbishop of Canterbury. He was the son of William Bourchier and Anne of Gloucester, and the half-brother of Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham (father of Lady Margaret Beaufort’s third husband, Sir Henry Stafford). Educated at Oxford University, Thomas was appointed Chancellor of the University in 1434. In the same year, he was made Bishop of Worcester and in 1443, consecrated as Bishop of Ely. In 1454, Thomas was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury and also served briefly as Lord Chancellor of England from 1455. He was made a cardinal in 1467 and died in 1486 at Knole House, Kent. He was buried at Canterbury Cathedral.
William Whitaker was a prominent Protestant Calvinistic Anglican churchman, academic, and theologian. He was Master of St. John's College, and a leading divine in the university in the latter half of the sixteenth century. His uncle was Alexander Nowell, the Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral and catechist.
He was born at Holme, near Burnley, Lancashire, in 1548. He received his early education at the local parish school and then was enrolled in St Paul's School in London by his protestant uncle Alexander Nowell. Whitaker came up to Trinity College in October 1564. He was subsequently elected a scholar on the same foundation, proceeded B.A. in March 1568, and on 6 September 1569 was elected to a minor fellowship, and on 25 March 1571 to a major fellowship, at his college. In 1571 he commenced M.A. He was supported financially at Cambridge by his uncle.
On 3 February 1578 he was installed canon of Norwich Cathedral, and in the same year was admitted to the degree of B.D., and incorporated on 14 July at Oxford. In 1580 he was appointed by the crown to the regius professorship of divinity, to which Elizabeth shortly after added the chancellorship of St. Paul's, London, and from this time his position as the champion of the teaching of the Protestant and Reformed Church of England appears to have been definitely taken up
On 28 February 1586 Whitaker, on the recommendation of Whitgift and Burghley, was appointed by the crown to the mastership of St. John's College. The appointment was, however, opposed by a majority of the fellows on the ground of his supposed leanings towards puritanism. His rule as an administrator justified in almost equal measure the appointment and its objectors. The college increased greatly in numbers and reputation, but the puritan party gained ground considerably in the society. Whitaker was a no less resolute opponent of Lutheranism than of Roman doctrine and ritual.
In 1587 he was created D.D.; and in 1593, on the mastership of Trinity College falling vacant by the preferment of Dr. John Still to the bishopric of Bath and Wells, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the post.
Richard Clayton was admitted as a pensioner in 1572, but move to Oxford where he proceeded B.A. and was incorporated in that degree at Cambridge in 1576. In 1577, he was admitted to the fellowship of St John's on the Lady Margaret's foundation. He commenced M.A. at Cambridge in 1579, and was incorporated in that degree at Oxford in 1580. He received his B.D. at Cambridge in 1587 and was elected college preacher the same year. He received his D.D.in 1592.
He was made Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge in 1593 and was installed Archdeacon of Lincoln in 1595. He was admitted as Master of SJC on 22 December 1595 in a highly politicised election manipulated by Lord Burghley.
Clayton was responsible for the building of Second Court.
He died 2 May 1612 and is buried in the College Chapel.
Robert Booth matriculated as a sizar at St John's, 1565, graduated BA 1571, MA 1574, and was made a Fellow of St John's in 1573, where he also served as Bursar. He came from Cheshire and was probably the son of John Booth of Dunham Massey. Booth seems to have been in the household of the Countess of Shrewsbury and it was through his advocacy that St John's Second Court was built. He made a bequest of £300 to pay for a fountain in Second Court, but the money was used for other purposes
Henry Alvey came from Nottinghamshire, matriculated at St John's in 1571, gained his BA in 1576, graduated MA in 1579 and BD in 1586. He was a Fellow from 1577 and became President of the College in 1590. In 1601 he relocated to Ireland, where he became Provost of Trinity College, Dublin. He returned to Cambridge in 1609.
Thomas Neville (died 1615) was an English clergyman and academic who was Dean of Peterborough (1591–1597) and Dean of Canterbury (1597–1615), Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge (1582–1593), and Master of Trinity College, Cambridge (1593–1615).
For more information see: https://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/about/historical-overview/early-years-1546-to-1642/
John Whitgift, (born c. 1530, Grimsby, Lincolnshire, Eng.—died Feb. 29, 1604, London), archbishop of Canterbury who did much to strengthen the Anglican church during the last years of Elizabeth I and to secure its acceptance by her successor, James I. He was the first bishop to be appointed to the Privy Council by Elizabeth, who entirely trusted and supported him, insisting on his ministrations on her deathbed.
For more information see: