WREN, SIR CHRISTOPHER, son of Very Rev. Christopher Wren, Dean of Windsor, and Mary, dau. of Robert Cox, Fonthill Abbey, Wilts.; bapt. 10 Nov 1632; adm. 1641; left 1646; Wadham Coll. Oxford, adm. fellow commoner 25 Jun 1649 (or 1650); BA 18 Mar 1650/1; MA 1653; DCL 1661; LLD Cambridge 1662; Fellow, All Souls Coll. Oxford 1653-7; Professor of Astronomy, Gresham Coll., London 1657-61; Savilian Professor of Astronomy, Oxford Univ. 5 Feb 1660/1- 9 Mar 1673; initiated experiments on the cause of the variations of the barometer; conducted research into anatomy and medical subjects; drew up the preamble to the first charter of the Royal Society 1660; one of the Council named in the second charter of the Royal Society 22 Apr 1663; FRS 20 May 1663 (original Fellow); one of the three Commissioners named by Charles II in October 1666 to consider rebuilding the city of London after the Great Fire; Surveyor of the King’s Works Mar 1668/9-1718; knighted 20 Nov 1673; adm. Lincoln’s Inn 25 Apr 1676; President, Royal Society 30 Nov 1680 – 30 Nov 1682; Comptroller of Works, Windsor Castle 1684-1716; MP Plympton 1685-7, Windsor Jan 1688/9 – unseated 14 May 1689, Mar 1689/90 – unseated 17 May 1690, Weymouth and Melcombe Regis Nov 1701-2; Surveyor of St. Paul’s Cathedral from 1675; Surveyor, Greenwich Hospital 1696-1716; Surveyor to the Fabric, Westminster Abbey, from 1699; architect of St. Paul’s Cathedral, many London city churches and halls of City livery companies, Temple Bar, the Monument, Greenwich Hospital, Chelsea Hospital, the Sheldonian Theatre and Old Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Tom Tower, Christ Church, Oxford, and Neville’s Court and the Library, Trinity Coll. Cambridge; made extensive alterations and additions at Hampton Court, Windsor Castle, Kensington Palace and Westminster Abbey; purchased Wroxall Abbey estate, Warwickshire, for his son 1713; m. 1st, 27 Dec 1669 Faith, dau. of Sir Thomas Coghill, Kt, Bletchingdon, Oxfordshire; m. 2nd, 24 Feb 1676/7 Hon. Jane Fitzwilliam, sister of Hon. Charles Fitzwilliam (qv); d. 25 Feb 1722/3. Buried St. Paul’s Cathedral. DNB.

VANE, SIR HENRY, eldest son of Sir Henry Vane, Kt MP, Treasurer of the Household and Secretary of State, Hadlow, Kent, and Raby Castle, co. Durham, and Frances, dau. of Thomas Darcy, Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Essex; bapt. 26 May 1613; at schoool under Osbaldeston (Wood, Athenae Oxon., iii, 578); became a puritan at age of 15; Magdalen Hall, Oxford, adm. fellow commoner, aged 16, but did not matr., as he objected to taking the oath; went to New England to obtain freedom of worship 1635; Governor of Massachusetts 1636-7; became entangled in doctrinal controversies and returned to England; Joint Treasurer of the Navy Jan 1639- Dec 41; MP Hull 1640-53; knighted 23 Jun 1640; showed Pym his father's notes of Strafford's advice to Charles I at the Council meeting of 5 May 1640; one of the originators of the bill for the abolition of episcopacy 1641; one of the committee appointed to vindicate the privileges of Parliament on the arrest of the five members; a leader of the war party in the House of Commons; Treasurer of the Navy (for Parliament) Aug 1642 - Dec 1650; conducted the negotiations with the Scots 1643; the virtual leader of the House of Commons after Pym's death; proposed and carried the establishment of the Committee of both Kingdoms 1644; one of the Parliamentary Commissioners at Uxbridge 1645; rejected Charles I’s overtures in 1644 and 1646; a Commissioner to treat with the army at Wycombe 1647; distrusted by the Presbyterians and the Levellers; took no part in Charles I’s trial; member of Council of State 14 Feb 1649; active member of the government 1649-53; a Commissioner for settling Scottish affairs 1651; quarrelled with Cromwell over the expulsion of the Long Parliament 1653; retired to Lincolnshire and refused a seat in the Little Parliament; imprisoned at Carisbrooke Castle as a result of the publication of his book Healing Question, propounded and resolved, 1656; MP Whitchurch in Richard Cromwell’s Parliament; assisted in the abolition of the Protectorate; Commissioner of the Navy and manager of foreign affairs in the restored Long Parliament; unsuccessfully endeavoured to reconcile Parliament and the army; became distrusted by all parties; expelled from the House of Commons 9 Jan 1660; partially excluded from the Act of Indemnity; imprisoned in the Tower of London, and subsequently transported to the Scilly Isles; tried for high treason in Court of King’s Bench, and sentenced to death 11 Jun 1662; an able statesman of enormous industry, but although his devotion to the public service and his freedom from corruption were well known, his religious enthusiasm and his subtlety in speculative matters exposed to him to the charge of being a fanatic and an unscrupulous schemer; author, The Retired Man’s Meditations, 1655, and other works; m. 1 Jul 1640 Frances, dau. of Sir Christopher Wray, Bart., Barlings, Lincs.; executed on Tower Hill 14 Jun 1662. DNB.

UNIACKE-PENROSE-FITZGERALD, SIR ROBERT UNIACKE, BART., eldest son of Robert Uniacke Penrose-Fitzgerald (formerly Penrose), Corkbeg Island, co. Cork, Ireland, and Frances Mary, dau. of Rev. Robert Austin LLD, Prebendary of Cloyne; b. 10 Jul 1839; adm. 26 May 1853 (G); Trinity Hall, Cambridge, adm. pens. 30 Jan 1859, matr. Lent 1859; won the University Pairs with James Penrose Ingham (qv) 1860; rowed v. Oxford 1861, 1862; LLB 1863; LLM 1872; travelled in India and Tibet 1863-7; MP (Conservative) Cambridge 1885-1906; assumed additional surname of Uniacke 26 Jun 1896; created baronet 4 Aug 1896; President, Yacht Racing Association; of Corkbeg Island, co. Cork; DL JP co. Cork; Busby Trustee 25 May 1889; m. 13 Sep 1867 Jane Emily, eldest dau. of Gen. Sir William John Codrington GCB; d. 10 Jul 1919.

SOMERSET, FITZROY JOHN HENRY, 1ST BARON RAGLAN, youngest son of Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort (qv); b. 30 Sep 1788; adm. 1 Feb 1802 (Clapham); in school list 1803; Cornet, 4th Light Dragoons 9 Jun 1804; Lieut., 30 May 1805; Capt., 6th Garrison Battn., 5 May 1808; 43rd Foot 18 Aug 1808; Brevet Maj., 9 Jun 1811; Brevet Lieut. -Col., 27 Apr 1812; Capt. and Lieut. -Col., 1st Foot Guards 25 Jul 1814; Col. in the Army and ADC to Prince Regent 28 Aug 1815; Major-Gen., 27 May 1825; Col., 53rd Foot 19 Nov 1830 – May 1854 [check]; Lieut. -Gen., 28 Jun 1838; Col., Royal Horse Guards, from 8 May 1854; Gen., 20 Jun 1854; Field-Marshal 5 Nov 1854; served with Wellington in Peninsular War; wounded at battle of Busaco; lost right arm at battle of Waterloo; Secretary to Embassy, Paris 1814, Minister Plenipotentiary there Jan – Mar 1815; Secretary to Master-Gen. of the Ordnance 1815-27; MP Truro 1818-20, 1826 – Mar 1829; Military Secretary, War Office Jan 1827 – Sep 1852; Master-Gen. of the Ordnance 30 Sep 1852 – May 1855; Commander-in-Chief of British Troops in Crimea from 1854; Privy Councillor 16 Oct 1852; created Baron Raglan 20 Oct 1852; KCB 2 Jan 1815; GCB 24 Sep 1852; DCL Oxford 1834; m. 6 Aug 1814 Lady Emily Harriet Wellesley Pole, second dau. of William Wellesley Pole, 3rrd Earl of Mornington PC, Master of the Mint; d. in camp before Sevastopol 28 Jun 1855. DNB.

RUSSELL, JOHN, 1ST EARL RUSSELL, third son of John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford (qv), and his first wife; b. 18 Aug 1792; adm. 23 Sep 1803 (G); fag to his brother Lord Tavistock; kept a diary while at the School, including a list of the School for Oct 1803; left Bartholomewtide 1804; Edinburgh Univ. 1809-12; MP Tavistock 4 May 1813 – Mar 1817, 1818-20, Huntingdonshire 1820-6, Bandon Bridge 19 Dec 1826-30, Tavistock 24 Nov 1830-1, Devon 1831-2, South Devon 1832 – Apr 1835, Stroud 29 May 1835-41, City of London 1841- 30 Jul 1861; made his first speech in favour of parliamentary reform 14 Dec 1819; successfully moved repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts 26 Feb 1828; Privy Councillor 22 Nov 1830; Paymaster-Gen. of the Forces 13 Dec 1830 – Nov 1834, also member of Cabinet Jun 1831 – Nov 1834; moved first reading of Reform Bill 31 Mar 1831; introduced Reform Bill for second time 24 Jun 1831, and for third time 12 Dec 1831; advocated reform of the Irish Church 1833-4; leader of Whigs in House of Commons Apr 1835 onwards; Secretary of State for Home Affairs 18 Apr 1835 – Aug 1839; carried through the Municipal Corporations Bill, and diminished the number of offences liable to capital punishment; Secretary for War and the Colonies 30 Aug 1839 – Aug 1841; declared for total repeal of the Corn Laws in his Edinburgh Letter of 22 Nov 1845, and supported their repeal by Peel in 1846; Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury 6 Jul 1846 – Feb 1852; carried the bill for removing Jewish disabilities through the House of Commons 1848, and responsible for the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill of 1851; Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in Aberdeen ministry Dec 1852 – Feb 1853, when he resigned but remained in Cabinet without office and continued to lead the House of Commons; Lord President of the Council 12 Jun 1854 – Jan 1855, resigning because of his dissatisfaction with the conduct of the Crimean War; Plenipotentiary to Vienna Congress 11 Feb 1855; Secretary of State for the Colonies 1 May – 13 Jul 1855; opposed Disraeli’s Reform Bill of 1859; Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 18 Jun 1859 – Nov 1865; the Reform Bill introduced by him on 1 Mar 1860 was subsequently dropped; created Earl Russell 30 Jul 1861; KG 21 May 1862; Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury 6 Nov 1865 – 18 Jun 1866, resigning on defeat of his Government’s Reform Bill by the ‘Adullamites”; declined Cabinet office in Gladstone’s administration formed in Dec 1868; received freedom City of London 9 Jul 1831; LLD Edinburgh Univ. 8 Nov 1845; FRS 6 May 1847; Lord Rector, Aberdeen Univ., from 1863; GCMG 25 Mar 1869; Busby Trustee 2 Jun 1863; a sincere and able Whig with the courage of his opinions, and a store of constitutional and historical knowledge; although no orator, a skilful debater and creator of telling phrases; edited Letters of the Fourth Duke of Bedford, 1842-6; author, Essay on the English Constitution, and other works; m. 1st, 11 Apr 1835 Adelaide, widow of Thomas Lister, 2nd Baron Ribblesdale (qv), and half-sister of Thomas Henry Lister (qv); m. 2nd, 20 Jul 1841 Lady Frances Anna Maria Elliot, second dau. of Gilbert Elliot, 2nd Earl of Minto; d. 28 May 1878. DNB.

PULTENEY, WILLIAM, 1ST EARL OF BATH, son of Col. William Pulteney, Misterton, Leics., and his first wife Mary Floyd; nephew of John Pulteney (qv); b. 22 Mar 1684; adm.; Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 31 Oct 1700; Grand Tour (Italy) 1704-5; MP Hedon 1705-34, Middlesex 1734 – 14 Jul 1742; Secretary at War 25 Sep 1714 – 11 Apr 1717; one of the committee of secrecy concerning the peace negotiations Apr 1715; Privy Councillor 16 Jul 1716; one of the “three grand allies”; declined peerage in lieu of office 1721; Cofferer of the Household 28 May 1723 – Apr 1725, dismissed after quarrel with Walpole; alled himself with Bolingbroke and wrote for The Craftsman; joined Wyndham and became a “patriot”; author of pamphlet On the State of the National Debt, 1727; quarrelled with John Hervey, Lord Hervey (qv), with whom he fought a duel in Green Park 25 Jan 1731; leader of the parliamentary opposition to Walpole; struck off the Privy Council 1 Jul 1731; refused to form a ministry on Walpole’s downfall, but entered Lord Wilmington’s Cabinet without office and was readm. to Privy Council 20 Feb 1742; created Earl of Bath 14 Jul 1742; his acceptance of a peerage diminished his political significance; lampooned by Sir Charles Hanbury Williams in a series of odes; endeavoured to form an administration at George II’s request, and accepte post of First Lord of the Treasury 10 Feb 1746, but his short-lived ministry only lasted two days, and he never held political office again; Lord Lieut., Yorkshire East Riding 7 Dec 1721 – 15 Jul 1728, Shropshire from 13 Jul 1761; a brilliant parliamentary orator and great debater; a scholar and a versatile and witty writer; gave £50 towards the New Dormitory; m. 27 Dec 1714 Anna Maria, dau. of John Gumley MP, Isleworth, Middlesex, Commissary-Gen. to the Army; d. 7 Jul 1764. Buried Islip Chapel, Westminster Abbey. DNB.

PRIOR, MATTHEW, son of George Prior, St.Stephen’s Alley, Westminster, joiner, and Elizabeth ---; bapt.St.Margaret, Westminster 2 Aug 1664; at school under Busby three years; left after reaching the middle of the third form to assist his uncle Arthur, a vintner, at the Rhenish Wine House, Channel Row, Westminster; returned to the School under the patronage of Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset (qv); KS 1681; St.John’s Coll.Cambridge, adm.pens. 2 Apr 1683, scholar 1684, matr. 1683; BA 1686/7; MA 1700; Keyton Fellow, St. John’s Coll. 5 Apr 1688; author of The Hind and Panther transvers’d to the Story of the Town and Country Mouse, 1687, written as a reply to Dryden; Secretary to Embassy, The Hague 1690-7; employed as Secretary in negotiations resulting in the Treaty of Ryswick 1697; Chief Secretary to Lords Justices of Ireland May 1697 – Nov 1699, but did not execute duties of post; FRS 23 Mar 1697/8; Secretary to Embassy, Paris 1698-9; author, Carmen Saeculare, 1699; Under Secretary of State, Southern Department May 1699 – Jun 1700; a Commissioner of Trade 1700-7; MP East Grinstead Feb – Nov 1701; joined Tories on accession of Queen Anne; a Commissioner of Customs 1712-4; went to Paris to negotiate peace Jul 1711, subsequently acting as Minister Plenipotentiary there; the Treaty of Utrecht, signed 11 Apr 1713, was familiarly known as “Matt’s Peace”; impeached by Walpole and imprisoned 1715-7; his Poems, published by subscription in 1719, earned him 4000 guineas; presented by his patron Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford (qv), with £4000 for the purchase of Down Hall, Essex; possessed aptitude for business and a knowledge of commerce; Thackeray described Prior’s as “amongst the easiest, the richest, the most charmingly humorous of English lyrical poems” (English Humourists, 1866, 175); d. 18 Sep 1721, buried Westminster Abbey, at his desire “at the feet of Spenser”; DNB.

POWELL, WILLIAM THOMAS ROWLAND, elder son of William Edward Powell (qv), and his first wife; b. 4 Aug 1815; adm. 24 May 1830 (Stikeman's); Ensign, 37th Foot 1 Jun 1832; Lieut., 26 Jun 1835; Capt., 6 Apr 1838; retd. 1 Mar 1839; MP (Conservative) Cardiganshire 1859-65; DL JP Cardiganshire; m. 1 May 1839 Rosa Edwyna, elder dau. of William George Cherry, Buckland, Herefs.; d. 13 May 1878. [Perhaps “Thomas Powell, Esq., Aberystwyth”, who signed Play Protest 1847].

PHILLIMORE, SIR ROBERT JOSEPH, BART., third son of Joseph Phillimore (b. 1775, qv); b. 5 Nov 1810; adm. 1 Feb 1820 (G); KS 1824; elected head to Christ Church, Oxford 1828, matr. 16 May 1828, Westminster Student; BA 1832; MA 1834; BCL 1835; DCL 1838; Clerk, Board of Control 20 Feb 1832 – 6 Apr 1835; adm. Middle Temple 17 Nov 1837, called to bar 7 May 1841, Bencher 1858, Treasurer 1859; adm. advocate, Doctors’ Commons 2 Nov 1839; Chancellor, Dioceses of Chichester 1844, Salisbury 1845 and London 1855; QC 16 Jan 1858; MP (Peelite/Liberal) Tavistock Feb 1853-7; Admiralty Advocate 1855-62; Judge of Cinque Ports 1855-75; Queen’s Advocate 1862-7; knighted 17 Sep 1862; Dean of Arches 1867-75, Master of the Faculties 1873-5; Judge of High Court of Admiralty 1867-75; Privy Councillor 3 Aug 1867; Judge of Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division, High Court of Justice 1875-83; Judge Advocate-General 17 May 1871 – Aug 1873; created baronet 28 Dec 1881; a personal friend and political supporter of Gladstone; gave evidence before the Public Schools Commission 23 Jun 1862 (Parliamentary Papers 1864, vol. xxi, pp 428-32); Busby Trustee 19 May 1868- Jun 1884; Governor of the School from 1869; benefactor to the School; President, Elizabethan Club, from 1876; translated Lessing, Laocoon 1874; author, Commentaries on International law, 1854-61, and other legal works; m. 19 Dec 1844 Charlotte Anne, third dau. of John Denison MP, Ossington Hall, near Newark, Notts.; d. 4 Feb 1885. DNB.

In 1863 and 1864 he gave prizes for an English essay, and in the latter year he expressed his intention of giving an annual prize of £6 6s for the essay, and a further prize of £3 3s. for translation into English. These prizes were awarded by him up to his death in 1885, and continued to be awarded after his death from funding supplied by his son Walter George Frank Phillimore, 1st Baron Phillimore (qv), also one of the School’s benefactors.