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John Frederick Isaacson was born in 1801. He was the second son of Reverend John Isaacson, the Rector of Lydgate, Suffolk and a fellow Johnian. Isaacson was educated at Norwich school, and then matriculated at St John’s in 1821. He graduated BA Senior Classic in 1825, also receiving the 1st Chancellor’s medal, before achieving the Bachelor of Divinity in 1835. In the same year that he achieved his BA, Isaacson was ordained deacon in Ely, and priest the following year. Around this time, he was also elected Fellow and Tutor of the college. As well as this, he also received the remarkable compliment of the post as a Lecturer of King’s College from 1829-1839.
In 1838, Isaacson became the rector of Freshwater, Isle of Wight, where he spent the rest of his life. He married Rebecca Stokes in 1840, and had two sons.
Isaacson died on the 19th August, 1886.
Obituary in The Eagle: Vol. 14, 1886, p. 236.
Accessible online at: https://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/Eagle/Eagle%20Volumes/1880s/1887/Eagle_1886_Michaelmas.pdf

Academic and historian, who specialized in modern British and Irish history. Jeffery obtained his BA, MA and doctorate from St. John's College, before going on to later hold positions at Ulster University and Queen's University, Belfast. He became Professor of British History at Queen's University in 2005.
For a detailed obituary, see The Eagle (2016), p.123.

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.

Sir John Douglas Cockcroft was a physicist and engineer. He was born on 27 May 1897 in Langfield, Yorkshire, to John Arthur Cockcroft and Annie Maude Fielden.
Cockcroft was educated at Todmorden secondary school from 1909 and he went with a scholarship to the University of Manchester in 1914 to study mathematics. He volunteered for war service in 1915 and spent three years as a signaller in the Royal Field Artillery. He returned to Manchester in 1919 to the College of Technology, where he gained a first-class BScTechn. in 1920. He was then accepted as a college apprentice in engineering by the Metropolitan-Vickers Company. He then won a scholarship at St John's College to read mathematics.
In 1925 Cockcroft married (Eunice) Elizabeth Crabtree whom he had known since childhood. Their first child, a boy, died at two years. Subsequently they had four daughters and then a son.
Cockcroft was recommended to Edward Rutherford at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, and he was accepted as a research student supported by a foundation scholarship from St John's College, a state scholarship, and a further grant from Vickers. He gained his PhD in 1928. At Rutherford’s request, Cockcroft joined up with E.T.S. Watson. In April 1932 their proton beam was directed on to a lithium target and bright scintillations were observed. They were shown to be due to helium atoms. By developing a high voltage high energy beam, the atom had been disintegrated, transformed, and the whole scientific world realized that a new era of nuclear physics had arrived.
Outside of his laboratory work, in 1933 Cockcroft had been appointed junior bursar of St John's College responsible for the buildings, some of which had been neglected for years. The gatehouse of the college was partly taken down to replace roof damage and destruction by death-watch beetles; two new courts were built and rewiring done. In 1935 Cockcroft took over direction of the Mond Laboratory; a new wing of the Cavendish Laboratory. In 1936 Cockcroft was elected FRS, and in 1939 he was elected to the Jacksonian professorship in natural philosophy just as he was becoming increasingly involved with efforts being made in technical fields to prepare for war with Hitler's Germany.
Sir H. T. Tizard spoke confidentially to Cockcroft early in 1938 about RDF, the highly secret radio technique for finding aircraft. Cockcroft played a major role in persuading about eighty physicists to spend a month at various coastal radar defence stations, and he also persuaded a number of leading physicists to participate in the RDF project. Some of these scientists made major advances in radar and Cockcroft's part was one of his greatest contributions to the war effort.
Cockcroft became chief superintendent of the Air Defence Research and Development Establishment at Christchurch in late 1940. Radar was then being applied to direct anti-aircraft gunnery upon unseen targets. Coastal defence radar and radar for combat use by the army to detect moving vehicles and tanks in the darkness were other major projects he undertook.
Cockcroft was assigned to Canada in 1944 to take charge of the Montreal laboratory, and then to build the NRX heavy water reactor at Chalk River. His calm but energetic direction gave the laboratory a firm sense of purpose. The nuclear explosions at Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought the war to an abrupt end, but the nuclear work continued. The Canadians wanted Cockcroft to stay but he was wanted at home to direct the new establishment which was being built at Harwell for atomic energy research. Cockcroft commuted for a while and did both jobs but he then moved full-time to Harwell in 1946.
Cockcroft's name and the excitement of atomic energy attracted many able people of all ages to work at Harwell. Work on pressurized gas-cooled reactors made it possible in 1953 to base the production of additional plutonium on dual-purpose reactors to be built at Calder Hall. The justification was primarily military, but for the first time the vision of cheap nuclear power began to have a practical endorsement. The government decided in 1954 to take the responsibility for atomic energy from the Ministry of Supply and create the Atomic Energy Authority (AEA). Cockcroft became the first member for research, while also remaining director of Harwell.
In December 1954 a technical conference was held under the auspices of the United Nations on the peaceful uses of atomic energy. An advisory committee from seven countries was formed and Cockcroft was chosen as the British representative. This conference, held at Geneva in August 1955, was a political event of outstanding importance which might have heralded the end of the cold war. Scientists from the communist countries fraternized so easily with those from the west, that, just as they shared science, they thought there must be a way to share political philosophies. Scientifically it was an enormous success. Cockcroft was able to invite I. Kurchatov, of the USSR, to give a lecture at Harwell on a subject (fusion research) which only a few months earlier was regarded as extremely secret.
Cockcroft gathered much of the British work on fusion research at Harwell and the major project was the torroidal discharge machine called ZETA which was a major step forward in fusion research. Cockcroft was able to give a great deal of help and encouragement to the Medical Research Council in their work on radiological protection. His influence led to the creation of the Rutherford High Energy Laboratory. He was also closely concerned with the early years of CERN.
Cockcroft resigned as a full-time member of the AEA in 1959 but remained a part-time member and moved to Cambridge to become the first master of the new Churchill College, having been nominated by Sir Winston Churchill himself. Cambridge had accepted the offer of finance for a college which would have nearly as many advanced scientists and fellows as undergraduates, all living in college. Churchill was gratified that this college would bear his name, and Cockcroft was about the most famous scientist or engineer in Britain at that time.
Alongside his duties as Master of Churchill College, Cockcroft represented Britain in the conference which in due course led to the signing of the test ban treaty relating to atomic weapons. He supported the Pugwash conferences on science and world affairs, and was their president in 1967.
Cockcroft received many honorary degrees, awards, and honours, the three principal being the Order of Merit (1957), the Nobel prize for physics, jointly with E. T. S. Walton (1951), and the atoms for peace award (1961). He was appointed CBE in 1944, knight bachelor in 1948, and KCB in 1953. Cockcroft wrote few scientific papers, but from 1935 devoted his outstanding ability to organizing and administering research in science and technology. Cockcroft died on 18 September 1967 at Churchill College. On 17 October a service of memorial and thanksgiving was held in Westminster Abbey.

Chris Paley Johnson was the Senior Bursar from 1970-1991. He oversaw the development of a number of College building projects, including the Innovation Centre.

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.

Adm. sizar to St. John's College in 1758; B.A. 1771, M.A. 1774. Master at Shrewsbury School from 1758; Third Master 1771-1783; Second Master, 1783-1798.

Born Giuliano della Rovere in Albisola, in the Republic of Genoa, Pope Julius II occupied the position of pontiff from 1503 to his death in 1513. Educated at the University in Perugia, Giuliano was first appointed Bishop of Carpentras in the Comtat Venaissin in October 1471, following the election of his uncle, Pope Sixtus IV, to the papacy. He was subsequently raised to the cardinalate in December 1471 and went on to hold a number of other important offices concurrently, including the offices of Papal Legate, Archbishop of Avignon and Bishop of Bologna. The dispensation which allowed the future Henry VIII of England to marry Catherine of Aragon – and which Henry later sought to nullify – was issued by Pope Julius in December 1503, shortly after his election to the papacy. His pontificate was characterised by active military involvement in foreign affairs and patronage of the arts. Under his authority, the Pontifical Swiss Guard, which is responsible for the security of the Vatican, was established in 1506, and the anti-Venetian alliance, the League of Cambrai, was created in 1508, as part of ongoing conflicts between major Western European powers over control of the Italian states. A number of significant architectural and artistic projects were commissioned by Pope Julius, including the painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling by Michelangelo, frescoes by Raphael, and the reconstruction of St. Peter’s Basilica. He died in 1513 after a period of illness and was buried in the Vatican.

Katherine of Aragon was Queen Consort of England from June 1509 until May 1533 as the first wife of King Henry VIII. She was previously Princess of Wales as the wife of Henry's elder brother, Arthur.
She was born Catalina in Alcalá de Henares, Spain on 16 December 1485. She was the youngest daughter of Ferdinand of Aragon (1452–1516) and Isabella of Castile (1451–1504).
Along with her older sisters, she received an education fitting for one who was intended for marriage with foreign rulers. In addition to her acquisition of the domestic arts, Catalina's skill in Latin, and knowledge of classical and vernacular literature, brought her the admiration of the Spanish humanist Juan Luis Vives and of Erasmus of Rotterdam.
The notion of a marriage between Catalina and the heir to the English throne Prince Arthur (born 19 September 1486), seems to have originated when the princess was only two. In 1487 ambassadors were sent to England to negotiate the marriage. The negotiations were protracted and complicated by events and alliances in Europe and also by the fact that both Arthur and Catalina were children. The marriage was formalised in a treaty agreed at Medina in 1489, where it was agreed that it should be deferred until the two children came of age. A proxy marriage ceremony took place in 1499 and it was then solemnized in London in 1501. Arthur died, still aged only fifteen, on 2 April 1502.
After Arthur’s death, Katherine was quickly betrothed to Arthur's younger brother Henry (later Henry VIII) and a formal treaty to this effect was concluded in June 1503, but again it was necessary for Henry to be of a suitable age before the marriage could take place so they were not married until 1509. The first years of her marriage saw Katherine's hold on her husband, and her political influence, at their height. She was frequently pregnant but suffered a long series of miscarriages and stillbirths. In 1511 she gave birth to Prince Henry (known as the 'New Year's Prince') but he only lived for a few weeks before dying of unknown causes. In February 1516 she did have a child who lived – the princess Mary - who later became Mary I (Mary Tudor).
Katherine had already been fluent in French and Latin when she arrived in England, and she now became proficient in English. She defended the interests of Queens' College, Cambridge, and interceded with Henry to protect Lady Margaret Beaufort's benefaction to St John's College. She provided exhibitions for poor scholars and supported lectureships at both Oxford and Cambridge. She may have been involved in trying to persuade Erasmus to prolong his stay in England beyond 1514, and was habitually praised by him; he dedicated his Christiani matrimonii institutio (1526) to her.
The first moves in the procedure to annul Katherine's marriage took place in 1527. The specific problem was not merely that Henry and Katherine were related in the first degree of affinity, but that sexual relations with a brother's wife were among those specifically forbidden in the Bible (Leviticus).
On 22 June Henry demanded formal separation. Katherine contended that her marriage to Arthur had never been consummated, that her marriage to Henry was therefore valid in the sight of God and man, and, moreover, that Henry knew this. She stuck to this unalterably thereafter. The case went on for many years. Following the announcement in February 1531 that Henry was 'Supreme Head' of the English church 'as far as the law of Christ allowed', Pope Clement offered Henry a compromise to allow a trial to take place. The council saw Katherine in May 1531, but she refused any compromise and spiritedly defended both the papal supremacy and her marriage.
On 11 July 1531 Henry and Katherine saw each other for the last time. The queen and her daughter were also separated. Katherine was ordered to The More in Hertfordshire, and Mary remained at Windsor. Mother and daughter never met again.
In 1532 the death of Archbishop Warham opened the way to a settlement. On 8 May Thomas Cranmer, the new archbishop of Canterbury, summoned Katherine to his court at Dunstable but she refused to appear. On 23 May Cranmer pronounced her marriage null, finding that her marriage to Arthur had been consummated, and that no dispensation could remove an impediment resulting from divine law.
On 23 March 1534 Rome at last pronounced on Katherine's marriage, decisively in her favour, but too late to influence events in England. In May 1534 she was removed to a secure house at Kimbolton, in Huntingdonshire. She died there on 7 January 1536. Katherine was buried at Peterborough Abbey on 29 January 1536. No monument was ever erected.

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.

Edward Lapidge was an architect, designer and surveyor based in London. He was the eldest son of Samuel Lapidge, a former assistant to Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown and the Chief Gardener at Hampton Court Palace. In 1824 Edward was appointed Surveyor to the County of Surrey. Between 1825 and 1828 he designed and built Kingston Bridge in London. Lapidge submitted designs that were not adopted for new buildings at King’s College in 1823 and the Fitzwilliam Museum in 1835. In October 1830, Lapidge produced a plan for the new Cambridge Botanical Gardens, but legal issues meant that the work was delayed and his designs were never carried out in full. Two years later, he submitted plans for the landscaping of the grounds around New Court at St John’s College, Cambridge. Lapidge was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1838. He died in February 1860.

Thomas Lever was an English Protestant reformer and Marian exile, one of the founders of the Puritan tendancy in the Church of England. He was from Little Lever, Lancashire. Lever graduated B.A. from St John's in 1541/2 and was elected to the Fellowship in 1543. From 1547, he along with Roger Hutchinson led the discussion of the mass and transubstantiation in the College. Lever was Master of the College from 1551-1553.

Adm. sizar to St. John's College in 1706; B.A. 1709-1710, M.A. 1713. Vicar of St. Mary's, Shrewsbury, 1715-1743. Brother of Richard Lloyd, headmaster of Shrewsbury School.

Adm. sizar to St. John's College in 1679. B.A. 1682-1683; M.A. 1686. Fellow 1685-1692. Headmaster of Shrewsbury School, 1687-1722. Prebend of Hereford, 1708-1733.