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Patron of the School; Dean of Westminster. Son of John Bill, Ashwell, Hertfordshire, and Margaret --- ; b. ; educated at St.John’s Coll., Cambridge ; BA 1532/3 ; MA 1536 ; BD 1544 ; DD 1547 ; ordained ; Fellow of St.John’s Coll. Nov 1535 – Mar 1547, Master of St.John’s Coll. 10 Mar 1546/7 – Nov 1551 ; Greek Reader, Cambridge Univ. 1541-3, subsequently Linacre Lecturer in Physic ; Rector of Sutton, Bedfordshire from 9 Jun 1547, and of Sandy, Bedfordshire, from 19 Mar 1550/1 ; Vice-Chancellor, Cambridge Univ. 1548/9 ; Master of Trinity Coll., Cambridge Nov 1551 – deprived 1553, and from 11 Jan 1559 ; Chaplain Extraordinary to Edward VI Dec 1551 ; Almoner to Elizabeth I Nov 1558 ; Provost of Eton from Jul 1559 ; Prebendary of Lincoln from Sep 1559 ; Dean of Westminster from 21 May 1560 (installed 30 June 1560) ; d. unm. 15 July 1561. Buried St.Benedict’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey. ODNB.
He drew up the statutes for the regulation of the College, and by his will dated 6 May 1561, proved 17 Dec 1561, left some plate to the College and some furniture for the scholars’ beds.

Ireland, John; Dean of Westminster. Son of Thomas Ireland, Ashburton, Devon, butcher, and Elizabeth --- ; b. 29 Sep 1761 ; educ. Ashburton GS ; Oriel Coll.Oxford, matr. 8 Dec 1779, bible clerk ; BA 1783 ; MA 1810 ; BD and DD 1810 ; MA Lambeth 1793 ; DD Lambeth 1803 ; ordained deacon 20 Jun 1784, priest 25 Sep 1785 (both Exeter) ; Curate, Kingsteignton, Devon 1784 ; tutor to son of Sir James Wright, Bart. ; Vicar of Croydon, Surrey 15 Jul 1793- Mar 1816 ; Vicar of Shoreham, Kent 27 Nov 1806 – Jun 1816 ; Chaplain to Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool ; Canon of Westminster 14 Aug 1802-16, Sub-Dean 1806-16, Dean of Westminster from 1816 ; Rector of Islip, Oxfordshire 26 Mar 1816 – Oct 1835 ; m. 29 Jan 1794 Susannah, dau. of John Short, Bickham, Devon ; d. 2 Sep 1842. Buried South Transept, Westminster Abbey. ODNB.
In 1820 he gave £500 3 per cent Consols to the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, the Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, and the Head Master of the School for the time being, the interest on which was to be applied for the purchase of books, which as “Dean’s Prizes” were to be given to encourage verse composition. The prizes were subsequently known as the Ireland Prizes. The endowment is now held in the School’s Ireland Fund (terms varied by schemes of 19 Apr 1965 and 8 Nov 1965).

Stanley, Arthur Penrhyn; Dean of Westminster. Second son of Right Hon.Edward Stanley DD, Bishop of Norwich, and Catherine, dau. of Rev.Oswald Leycester, Rector of Stoke-upon-Terne, Shropshire ; b. 13 Dec 1815 ; educ. Rugby School ; Balliol Coll.Oxford, matr. 30 Nov 1833 ; Ireland Scholar and Newdigate Prize for English Verse 1837 ; 1st cl.Lit.Hum. 1837 ; BA 1837 ; Fellow, University Coll.Oxford Jul 1838, Tutor 1843 ; Chancellor’s Latin Essay Prize 1839, Chancellor’s English Essay Prize 1840, Ellerton Theological Essay Prize 1840 ; ordained deacon Dec 1839, priest 1843 ; Secretary to Oxford University Commission 1851-2 ; Canon of Canterbury Jul 1851 – Dec 1856 ; Canon of Christ Church, Oxford, and Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History Dec 1856 – Jan 1864 ; Dean of Westminster from 9 Jan 1864 ; author, Life of Thomas Arnold DD, Head Master of Rugby, 1844, Sinai and Palestine in connection with their history, 1856, Lectures on the History of the Eastern Church, 1861, Lectures on the History of the Jewish Church, 3 vols, 1863-70, Historical Memorials of Westminster Abbey, 1870, and many other publications ; m. 22 Dec 1863 Lady Augusta Frederica Elizabeth Bruce, dau. of Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, Ambassador to the Sublime Porte, Gen. in the Army ; d. 18 Jul 1881. Buried Henry VII Chapel, Westminster Abbey. ODNB.
While Dean of Westminster he continued the Greek Testament Prize originated by Dean Trench (below), and in 1868, at his own expense, he restored School to its former proportions by removing the wall at the northern end where the Shell form was situated, at the same time making good the roof which had been damaged by fire in 1694.

Thomas, John; Bishop of Rochester and Dean of Westminster. Son of Rev.John Thomas, Vicar of Brampton, Cumberland, and Minor Canon of Carlisle, and Ann, dau. of Richard Kelsick, Whitehaven, Cumberland, ship’s captain ; bapt. 7 Oct 1712 ; educ. Carlisle GS and Queen’s Coll.Oxford, matr. 17 Dec 1730 ; BCL 1741 ; DCL 1742 ; ordained deacon 27 Mar 1736/7, priest 25 Sep 1737 ; tutor to son of Sir William Clayton, Bart., MP ; Rector of Bletchingley, Surrey 27 Jan 1737/8 – 1774 ; Chaplain in Ordinary to George II 17 Jan.1748/9 and to George III 1760 ; Prebendary of Westminster 23 Apr 1754 – Jul 1768, Sub-Dean 1758 ; Sub-Almoner 28 Dec 1761 ; Vicar of St.Bride’s, Fleet Street, London 7 Jan 1766-9 ; Dean of Westminster from 19 Jul 1768 ; consecrated Bishop of Rochester 13 Nov 1774 ; m.1st, 19 Aug 1742 Anne, widow of Sir Charles Blackwell, Bart., and dau. of Sir William Clayton, Bart., MP ; m.2nd, 12 Jan.1775 Elizabeth, widow of Sir Joseph Yates Kt, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and dau. of Charles Baldwyn, Munslow, Shropshire ; d. 22 Aug 1793. ODNB.
In 1791 he invested £1000 Stock in the names of the Deans of Westminster and of Christ Church, Oxford, and the Head Master, in trust for the School. The fund was subsequently consolidated with the School Exhibition Fund, and the benefaction commemorated by four exhibitions known as Bishop Thomas exhibitions.

By charter dated 21 May 1560 she restored the foundation of Henry VIII as the “Dean and Chapter of the Collegiate Church of the Blessed Peter Westminster”, among the reasons being given for the foundation being the liberal education of youth to the greater ornament of the state. By letters patent addressed to Trinity College, Cambridge, dated 11 June 1561, she expressed a wish that they should select as many Westminsters as possible for education in that college. By further letters patent, dated 7 February 1576, she recapitulated and confirmed her former injunctions, which had established a body of seven electors, including the Dean of Westminster, the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, and the Master of Trinity, Cambridge, and she directed that at least three Westminster scholars should be elected annually to Christ Church and at least three more to Trinity College.
She is also said to have instituted an annual grant of £2 in Maundy money to be distributed as awards for exercises in prose and verse (J.Sargeaunt, Annals of Westminster School, 1898, 25), but although this grant is mentioned in the published Order of Service, there seems to be no contemporary evidence to substantiate it.

Patron of the School; He gave £1000 towards the cost of building the present College Dormitory.

Fell, John; Bishop of Oxford and Dean of Christ Church, Oxford. Eldest son of Samuel Fell (qv) ; b. 23 Jun 1625 ; educ. Lord Williams’s School, Thame, and Christ Church, Oxford, Canoneer Student 25 May 1637 – expelled by the Parliamentary Visitors 15 May 1648 ; BA 1640 ; MA 1643 ; DD 1660 ; served as Ensign in Royalist garrison, Oxford ; ordained 1647 ; one of the group of clergy who regularly performed Church of England services in Oxford during the Commonwealth ; Canon of Christ Church 27 Jul 1660 – Nov 1660, Dean of Christ Church from 27 Nov 1660 ; Prebendary of Chichester 18 Aug 1660 – res Jan 1661/2 ; Vice-Chancellor, Oxford Univ. 1666-9 ; consecrated Bishop of Oxford 6 Feb 1675/6 ; Chaplain to Charles II ; raised the finance for new buildings at Christ Church, including Tom’s Tower designed by Sir Christopher Wren ; presented valuable type matrices to the University Press 1666 and established the first regular University type foundry 1667 ; author of biographies of Henry Hammond and of Thomas Fuller, and of editions of Suetonius and of Clement ; d.unm. 10 Jul 1686. ODNB.
In 1685 he provided £327 5s 6d out of a total of £527 5s 6d of the cost of purchase, jointly with Richard Hill (elected to Oxford 1640, qv), of certain fee farm rents. These were conveyed on trust to pay £20 to a reader of prayers in some parish church in the city of Oxford, and the residue to the Westminster Students of Christ Church.
According to E.G.W.Bill, Education at Christ Church Oxford 1660-1800, 1988, p.103 n.1, “The Fell and Hill Trust was established in 1685 for the benefit of two Westminster Students. The first appointments were not made until 1714 and the exhibitions were only worth £2-£3 a year”.

Goodman, Gabriel; Dean of Westminster. Second son of Edward Goodman, Ruthin, Denbighshire, mercer, and Cecily, dau. of Edward Thelwall, Plas-y-Ward, Llanynys, Denbighshire ; Jesus Coll., Cambridge, matr.sizar Mich.1546 ; BA 1550 ; Christ’s Coll.Cambridge ; Fellow 1552-4 ; MA 1553 ; migrated to St.John’s Coll.Cambridge ; DD 1564 ; ordained ; Chaplain to Sir William Cecil and tutor to his elder son (by 1554) ; Rector of South Luffenham, Rutland 1558 – Oct 1562 ; Rector of Waddesdon, Bucks., first portion, 1559, and second portion, 1569 ; Prebendary of St.Paul’s from 23 Oct 1559 ; Prebendary of Westminster 30 Jun 1560- Aug 1561, Dean of Westminster from 13 Aug 1561 (installed 23 Sep 1561) ; an Ecclesiastical Commissioner from 1562 ; benefactor to his native town of Ruthin, where he paid for the building of a new school house in 1574 and established an almshouse ; d. unm. 17 Jun 1601, aged 73. Buried St.Benedict’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey. ODNB.
While Prebendary of Chiswick in St.Paul’s Cathedral, by indenture dated 29 Jun 1570, he leased the manor house of Chiswick to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster as a place for the master and scholars and some of the chapter to retire to in case of pestilence or sickness. The lease was renewed from time to time, and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, when they took over the estates of the Prebendaries of St.Paul’s, purchased the interest of the Dean and Chapter in the property. The purchase money was known as the Chiswick Fund, and subsequently reached the sum of £1160 Consols, the interest of which was used to pay for the medical attendance and care of the King’s Scholars. Dr Goodman endeavoured more than once to procure the royal assent to the statutes drawn up by Dr.Bill. He also tried to obtain the right for the School to the annual election of three scholars to Trinity College, Cambridge, instead of two every year and three every third year, an alteration which Dr.Whitgift when Master of Trinity obtained leave to make.
The endowment is now held in the School’s Chiswick Fund, under a governing document of 1864 (amended by scheme of 8 Nov.1965).

Cecil, Mildred, Lady Burghley; eldest daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke KB MP, Gidea Hall, Essex, tutor to Edward VI, and Anne, widow of Sir John Hawes Kt, and dau. of Sir William Fitzwilliam Kt, Gains Park, Essex, merchant ; b.1526 ; intellectual and Greek scholar ; m. 21 Dec 1545, as his second wife, William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (below) ; d. 24 Apr 1589. Buried St.Nicholas’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey. ODNB.
During her lifetime she gave to the School a number of books now kept in the Busby Library.

Slade, Grace Annabella; Daughter of Richard Slade (adm.1721/2, qv) ; b. c.1769 ; d. unm. 13 Oct 1856.
To commemorate the education of her father Richard Slade and of her brothers Richard Slade and Samuel Slade at the School, she gave £1000 to fund an exhibition at Christ Church, Oxford, preference to be given, in the case of an equality of merit among the candidates, to a person educated at Westminster School. In addition, she gave, on 30 Mar 1846 £1000 to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, the interest on which was to be laid out in the purchase of books for prizes. By an order of the Chapter dated 21 Apr 1856, £10 of the income was to be applied to the purchase of prizes for a Latin essay or of Greek verses on a set subject, and the balance in the purchase of prizes to be given at the annual examinations.