GAGER, WILLIAM, son of Gilbert Gager, Long Melford, Suffolk, and Thomasin, dau. of John Cordell, Edmonton, Middlesex, and sister of Sir William Cordell MP, Master of the Rolls; b. 24 Jul 1555; adm.; QS 1570; elected head to Christ Church, Oxford 7 Jul 1574 (CSP Dom, Addit., 1566-79, 487), Westminster Student to 1598; BA 1577; MA 1580 (incorp. Cambridge 1581); BCL and DCL 1589; LLD Cambridge 1601; Surrogate to Richard Swale LLD, Chancellor and Vicar-General, Diocese of Ely 1601; Chancellor, Diocese of Ely, from 29 May 1606; Vicar-General of Ely 1613, 1616, 1618; engaged in a controversy in 1592 with John Rainolds (afterwards President, Corpus Christi Coll., Oxford) as to the morality of stage plays; credited with having maintained at the Oxford Act of 1608 [check date] that husbands might lawfully, if not laudably, beat their wives (Thompson, Christ Church, 42); author of five Latin plays, all of which were acted at Christ Church, Oxford, and a number of published Latin verses; m. Mary ---; buried All Saints, Cambridge 1 Sep 1622. DNB.