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People & Organisations
Dean of Westminster School

Dolben, John, 1625-1686

  • GB-2014-WSA-00558
  • Person
  • 1625-1686

DOLBEN, JOHN, eldest son of William Dolben (elected Oxford 1603, qv); b. 24 Mar 1624/5; adm.; KS 1637; elected to Christ Church, Oxford 1640, matr. 3 Jul 1640, Westminster Student 1640 - 7 Jul 1648, when deprived for refusing to submit to the Parliamentary Visitors; BA and MA 9 Dec 1647; BD and DD 3 Oct 1660; joined royalist army as volunteer, wounded at Marston Moor and again during siege of York; promoted for his bravery to the ranks of Capt. and Major; returned to studies at Oxford 1646; ordained deacon (Chichester) 1656; with John Fell and Richard Allestree continued to hold the services of the prescribed Church of England in the house of Dr Thomas Willis in Oxford, an act of loyalty commemorated by Sir Peter Lely in his picture of the three divines in Christ Church Hall; Canon of Christ Church, Oxford 27 Jul 1660- Nov 1666; Rector of Newington cum Britwell, Oxfordshire 1660; Chaplain in Ordinary to Charles II; Prebendary of St. Paul’s 21 Apr 1661 – Nov 1666; Archdeacon of London 11 Oct 1662- May 1664; Vicar of St. Giles, Cripplegate, London, 15 Nov 1662 - res 18 Mar 1663/4; Dean of Westminster 3 Dec 1662 - Aug 1683; he and the Westminster Scholars assisted in saving St. Dunstan in the East from the Great Fire 3 Sep 1666 (Autobiography of William Taswell, Camden Soc. Pub. lv, 12); Clerk of the Closet 1664 - Dec 1667, deprived on Clarendon’s fall; consecrated Bishop of Rochester 25 Nov 1666; Lord High Almoner 21 Oct 1675 - Mar 1684; Archbishop of York from 16 Aug 1683; FRS 29 Mar 1665; a prelate of great presence and courage, and one of the most popular preachers of the day; the subject of lines 868-9 of John Dryden (qv)’s Absalom and Achitophel; m. 14 Jan 1657/8 Catherine, dau. of Ralph Sheldon, Stanton, Derbs. [check], and niece of Most Rev. Gilbert Sheldon DD, Archbishop of Canterbury; d. 11 Apr 1686. DNB.

Neile, Richard, 1562-1640

  • GB-2014-WSA-019365
  • Person
  • 1562-1640

NEILE, RICHARD, son of Paul Neile, King Street, Westminster, tallow chandler, and Sybil Hasinge; bapt. 11 Mar 1561/2; at school under Grant (Wood, Athenae Oxon. , ii, 341); according to Leighton’s Epitome, 1646, 66, “the Schoolmaster was never off his Breech, by which he became so sorry a Dunce, that untill that hour he could never make a right Latin Theame”; St. John’s Coll. Camb. , adm. 22 Apr 1580, Burghley scholar (on nomination of Dean Goodman), matr. 1580; BA 1583/4; MA 1587; BD 1595; DD 1600 (incorp. Oxford 15 Jul 1600); ordained deacon and priest (Peterborough) 6 Jul 1589; Chaplain to Lord Burghley; held various ecclesiastical preferments; Treasurer of Chichester 5 Jul 1598 – Dec 1610, Prebendary 30 Apr 1604 – Jan 1613/4, also Canon Residentiary 20 Jan 1609/10- Jan 1613/4; Master of the Savoy 24 Jan 1602/3-5; Dean of Westminster 5 Nov 1605 – Dec 1610; took a great interest in the School, and while Dean is said to have sent two or three scholars yearly to the Universities at his own cost; Rector of Southfleet, Kent 1608-10; consecrated Bishop of Rochester 9 Oct 1608; translated to Lichfield and Coventry 6 Dec 1610, and to Lincoln 18 Feb 1613/4; made a violent attack on the House of Commons 24 May 1614, for which he finally apologised with tears; translated to Durham 9 Oct 1617; Privy Councillor 29 Apr 1627; translated to Winchester 7 Feb 1627/8; accused of Arminianism by the Commons 13 Jun 1629; sat regularly in Court of High Commission and in the Star Chamber; Archbishop of York from 19 Mar 1631/2; an uncompromising churchman and strict disciplinarian; of little learning, but of much address and capacity for business; m. ; d. 31 Oct 1640. DNB.

In the account which he drew up of what had been done by the Dean and Chapter of Westminster during the time that he was Dean he records “Myself have yearly sent out of this School (besides those six that have been elected), whom I have gotten placed in other colleges besides Trinity College and Christ Church, some years two, some years three, and with some charge to me ; which I have carefully done in a thankful remembrance of God’s goodness showed to me in my being preferred from this School to St.John’s College, Cambridge, by the honourable bounty of my foundress and patroness, the Lady Mildred Burghley”.

Pearce, Zachary, 1692-1774

  • GB-2014-WSA-01105
  • Person
  • 1692-1774

PEARCE, ZACHARY, son of John Pearce, St. Giles in the Fields, Holborn, Middlesex, distiller; b. 8 Sep 1692; adm. 12 Feb 1704; QS 1707; elected to Trinity Coll. Cambridge 1710, adm. pens. 8 Jun 1710, scholar 14 Apr 1711; BA 1713/4; MA 1717; DD Lambeth 1 Jun 1724; Minor Fellow, Trinity Coll. 29 Sep 1716, Major Fellow 1 Jul 1717; ordained deacon 22 Dec 1717, priest 8 Jun 1718 (both Ely); Chaplain to Earl of Macclesfield, Lord Chancellor; Rector of St. Bartholomew’s by the Exchange, London 19 Mar 1719/20-4; FRS 30 Jun 1720; Chaplain in Ordinary to George I and II 1721-39; Vicar of St. Martin in the Fields, London 10 Jan 1723/4-56; Dean of Winchester 2 Aug 1739; consecrated Bishop of Bangor 21 Feb 1747/8; Dean of Westminster 4 May 1756 – 24 Jun 1768, res.; translated from Bangor to Rochester 9 Jul 1756, holding see to death; edited Longinus, 1721, and other works; bequeathed his library to Dean and Chapter of Westminster; m. Feb 1721/2 Mary, dau. of Richard Adams, Holborn, distiller; d. 29 Jun 1774. Monument, South Aisle, Westminster Abbey. DNB.

Vincent, William, 1739-1815

  • GB-2014-WSA-00013
  • Person
  • 1739-1815

VINCENT, WILLIAM, fifth surviving son of Giles Vincent, Lime Street Ward, London, packer and Portugal merchant, and Sarah, dau. of Francis Holloway, Newnham Murren, Oxfordshire; nephew of Richard Vincent (QS 1708, qv); b. 2 Nov 1739; adm. Sep 1748 (Hutton's); KS 1753; elected to Trinity Coll. Cambridge 1757, adm. pens. 9 Jun 1757, scholar 21 Apr 1758, matr. 1758; BA 1761; MA 1764; BD and DD 1776; Usher at the School 1762-71, Under Master 28 May 1771-88, Head Master 1788-1802; ordained deacon (Norwich, lit. dim. from Rochester) 19 Dec 1763, priest (London) 22 Sep 1765; Vicar of Longdon, Worcs., 1778; Rector of All Hallows the Great, London 17 Dec 1778-1803; Chaplain in Ordinary to George III (occurs 1778-93), Sub-Almoner 28 Nov 1783 - Feb 1808; Dean of Westminster from 7 Aug 1802; Prolocutor, Lower House of Convocation 1802, 1806, 1807; Rector of St. John’s, Westminster 28 May 1803 - Jan 1807; Rector of Islip, Oxfordshire, from 31 Jan 1807; one of the soundest scholars of his day, although he resembled Busby in his love for the rod; when Dean of Westminster obtained an annual grant from Parliament for the restoration of Henry VII’s Chapel; his name is perpetuated by Vincent Square, preserved through his influence as playing fields for the School; Busby Trustee 22 Apr 1790; author, Defence of Public Education, 1801, and of a number of highly regarded works on ancient geography and other subjects; m. 15 Aug 1771 Hannah, fourth dau. of George Wyatt, Chief Clerk of Vote Office, House of Commons; d. 21 Dec 1815. Buried St. Benedict’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey (monument facing Poets’ Corner, with inscription composed by himself). DNB.