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John Fisher was an English bishop, theologian and humanist academic, who was instrumental in the founding of St John's College. He is venerated as a martyr and saint by the Roman Catholic Church. Born in the town of Beverley, Yorkshire, in 1469, Fisher was a student at Cambridge in the 1480s, gaining his BA in 1488. He was subsequently elected Fellow of Michaelhouse, one of the two Colleges later refounded as Trinity College by Henry VIII. He became chaplain and confessor to Lady Margaret Beaufort, and in 1504, was appointed as Bishop of Rochester. At Cambridge, Fisher was made Vice-Chancellor of the University in 1501 and served as President of Queens’ College from 1505 to 1508. He also encouraged the creation of the University’s oldest professorship, the Lady Margaret Professorship of Divinity, in 1502, and was elected as its first occupant.

It was through Fisher’s influence that Lady Margaret was moved to support the foundation of Christ's College (1505) and St John's College, and it was Fisher who was to secure the establishment of St. John’s in 1511, after Lady Margaret’s death in 1509. Fisher fiercely opposed the dissolution of Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon, a position which brought him into grave conflict with the King. Fisher’s refusal to take an oath supporting Henry's right to act as Supreme Head of the Church in England led ultimately to his imprisonment in the Tower of London in 1534. Since such a refusal was considered a treasonable offence, Fisher was tried and sentenced to death, despite his late appointment to the office of cardinal by Pope Paul III. He was executed on Tower Hill on 22 June 1535.

A prominent English churchman and statesman, Richard Foxe held many important ecclesiastical offices during the course of his life, including positions as the Bishop of Exeter, Durham, and from 1501, as Bishop of Winchester. He was a powerful political ally of King Henry VII of England and assumed a number of important diplomatic and ministerial responsibilities during Henry’s reign, both domestically and abroad. Foxe was appointed Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal in 1487, a position which he held until his resignation in 1516. A generous benefactor, Foxe built and endowed grammar schools at Grantham and Taunton, and in 1517, officially founded Corpus Christi College, Oxford.

Foxe held a number of close connections to Cambridge. In 1500, he was elected Chancellor of the University and from 1507 to 1518, served as Master of Pembroke Hall. As one of Lady Margaret Beaufort’s executors, Foxe worked closely with John Fisher in establishing the foundation of St. John’s College. He died at Wolvesey in October 1528.

Born in Hampstead on 6th December 1863, the son of Major Luke Loftus Bushe-Fox, an alumnus of Christ Church College Oxford and barrister, Loftus Bushe-Fox came up to St John’s College Cambridge in 1882 and first studied the Maths Tripos in 1885 as 12th Wrangler, before completing the Law Tripos (LLB) the following year. It was not until 1912 that he proceeded to take the LLM. He was called to the Bar at the Inner Temple in 1890, before returning to St John’s in 1902.

Bushe-Fox returned to Cambridge to take up a position of Law Lecturer at St John’s in 1902, before being admitted to the Fellowship in 1903 as well as taking on the role of Junior Dean that year, and becoming a Tutor in 1905. He was committed to his work in the College and was well thought of by students and staff. Outside his academic commitments he was a keen sportsman, excelling at rowing, lawn tennis and shooting.

His relatively early death in 1916 was mourned by current staff and students alike, and was considered a great loss to the College and future students.

Obituary in The Eagle: Vol 37, Easter 1916, p. 381
Accessible online at: https://documents.joh.cam.ac.uk/public/Eagle/Eagle%20Volumes/1910s/1916/Eagle_1916_Easter.pdf

Born in Shropshire in 1816, Francis France was educated at Shrewsbury School before coming up to St John's College in 1837. He graduated BA (Senior Classic) in 1840 and was admitted to the Fellowship of the College in the same year. He was to remain a Fellow until his death, serving ten years from 1850 as a Tutor, and being elected President in 1854. He was appointed to the Archdeaconry of Ely in 1859 following the death of Rev. C. Hardwick.

France was well liked and respected, and his sudden death at the age of 48 was mourned by Fellows and members of the College alike.

Obituary in The Eagle: Vol 4, Easter 1864, p. 176
Accessible online at: https://documents.joh.cam.ac.uk/public/Eagle/Eagle%20Volumes/1860s/1864/Eagle_1864_Easter.pdf

Treasurer to Lady Margaret Beaufort.

Leonardo Frescobaldi was a Florentine merchant and member of the Frescobaldi family, a prominent noble family of bankers and merchants active in Florence from the thirteenth century onwards. He was the son of Girolamo di Leonardo Frescobaldi (d.1518) and was based in London during the early sixteenth century. Together with Giovanni Cavalcanti, Frescobaldi served as a guarantor for Pietro Torrigiano in 1511 for his work on the tomb of Lady Margaret Beaufort.

Robert Fuller was the College's Head Porter from 1969 to 1985. He was the first Head Porter to welcome both female fellows and undergraduates.

Percival Edmund Gatty, usually known as Edmund Percival Gatty, was born on the 22nd June 1886 to Frederick Albert Gatty, a manufacturing chemist. He was educated at Orley Farm, before going on to Chichester Theological College. He recieved his B.A. in 1889, and was ordained priest in 1892. He held curacies in Brighton, Yorkshire, Bedfordshire and Leicestershire. In 1900 he became the vicar of Offley, Hertfordshire, and remained there until his retirement in 1925.

Gatty was an avid water-colour painter, and published the book A History of Offley and its Church in 1907. During the First World War, he was an ambulance driver with the French Army.

Gatty married Alice Mabel Wellwood Ker in 1899. They had one daughter, and one son: Hugh Percival Wharton Gatty, who went on to become a Fellow and Librarian of St John’s College. He died on the 30th December 1937.

Of Scottish origin, Gilbert was a friar and doctor active in London during the late 1490s. He was warden of the Franciscan Observants at Greenwich and an associate of Richard Foxe.

Born on 3 September 1945 to Herbert Charles and Rosina Sarah Goddard, Peter Goddard was educated at Emanuel School, London, before entering Trinity College, Cambridge where he obtained his BA (1966), and both his MA and PhD (1971). He then became a Research Fellow at Trinity College (1969-73), during which time he also became a Lecturer in Applied Mathematics at Durham University (1972-74). He then returned to Cambridge, where he progressed through a multitude of university positions, including: Assistant Lecturer (1976-5); Lecturer (1976-98); Reader in Mathematical Physics (1989-92); Professor of Theoretical Physics (1992-2004); and was a member of the University Council (2000-03). Goddard was also the Department Director, Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences (1991-94), becoming a Senior Fellow (1994-2010) after resigning this position, and then an Honorary Fellow (2011).

During his time teaching at Cambridge, Goddard also held positions at St John's College. He was elected to a Fellowship of the College in 1975, and then proceeded to be: Lecturer in Mathematics (1975-91); Tutor (1980-87); and Senior Tutor (1983-87). He remains a Fellow, but did take a break from his fellowship during the period 1994-2004, when he was serving as Master of the College. Goddard was also elected as Fellow of the Institute of Physics (1990), Fellow of Imperial College (1987), and an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College Dublin (1995). He was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Society in 1989 and appointed CBE in 2002. He was also awarded an ScD Cantab in 1996, and has held a significant number of roles in the US as well as Britain.

He married Helena Barbara Ross in 1968, and together they have one son and one daughter. Goddard is currently Emeritus Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, having started there as Director (2004-12) and then becoming Professor (2012-16).

Humphrey Gower was born in Herefordshire and graduated from St John's in 1659. He then proceeded MA, BD, DD, and was elected to the Lady Margaret Professorship of Divinity. Over the course of his career he was also rector of a number of parishes in counties as far apart as Dorset and Norfolk, as well as prebendary of Ely. Peter Gunning made him Master of Jesus College in 1679, and later that year he became Master of St John's. During his Vice-Chancellorship Gower received Charles II at Newmarket, and later that year in St John's itself. When William III came to power he was indicted for not having ejected non-juring fellows, but the charges against him were rejected. As well as making important benefactions to the Library, Gower ensured the upkeep of the material of the College, arranging the building of a new bridge over the Cam.

The Reverend Charles Edward Graves was born in London on 11th November 1839, the son of James John, a silk manufacturer. He attended Leamington College and Shrewsbury School, before matriculating at St John’s in 1858. He graduated BA (2nd Classic) in 1862 and was elected a Fellow in 1863; however he had to renounce this position when he married in 1865. Graves was ordained the following year, serving for two years as curate of St Luke’s in Chesterton, and for eight years as chaplain of Magdalene College. Following the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Act of 1877, which meant that Fellows were no longer required to remain celibate, Graves was re-elected a Fellow in 1893. It was during this stint that he also served as a Tutor, alongside Dr Tanner, from 1895 to 1905.

He was popular while engaged as a private Tutor for Classics, as well as when employed as a lecturer, and was known for his generosity and humour. He died on 21st October 1920, and was survived by his son and four daughters.

Obituary in The Eagle: Vol 42, Lent 1921, p. 57

Born on 7th June 1879 in Wiltshire, the son of Arthur Gregory and Eliza Standerwick Barnes, and schooled at Weston-Super-Mare, Reginald Gregory matriculated at St John’s in 1898. In 1901 he graduated BA in the Natural Sciences Tripos, with a focus on Botany in Part II. Elected to the Fellowship in 1904, and University Lecturer in botany in 1907, he became a Tutor in 1912 and was popular with students and colleagues.
While his mother was known for her work on the genus Viola, Reginald Gregory focussed on the genetics and cytology of plants, having many papers published on the subject in scientific journals.
At outbreak of the First World War Gregory joined the Cambridge University Officers’ Training Corp, teaching cadets at the Cambridge School, and later served in as 2nd Lieutenant in the Gloucester Regiment. In August 1917 he was discharged from the Army after being badly gassed, and in November 1918 died from pneumonia brought on by influenza. He left his wife, Joan Laidlay and three daughters.

Obituary in The Eagle: Vol 40, Lent 1919, p117

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.