Archdeacon Robert Johnson (1540 – 1625) was the founder of Oakham School and Uppingham School.
He was a Puritan rector of North Luffenham for 51 years, from 1574 until his death; he was also the Archdeacon of Leicester, and using the income from these and other church posts that he was able to hold concurrently, he founded free grammar schools in Oakham and Uppingham in 1584, as well as other charitable institutions. He enjoyed the patronage of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley.
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He was born in Stamford to Maurice and Jane Johnson, one of seven children; his father was MP for Stamford. He married three times and had a son, Abraham, by his third wife, Maria (née Hird); through his son he had thirteen grandchildren. His grandson, Isaac, married Lady Arbella Fiennes, who gave her name to Governor John Winthrop's flagship the Arbella.[1] Robert Johnson died on 23 July 1625 in North Luffenham and his memorial is in the chancel of the church there.
His puritan beliefs meant he placed great importance on education, and he set up the grammar schools in the two towns of Rutland so that those who were too poor to pay for schooling could be taught Hebrew, Greek and Latin.
Among other endowments and foundations, Archdeacon Johnson founded Hospitals of Christ in Oakham and Uppingham, and re-founded and endowed the old hospital of Saint John the Evangelist and Saint Anne in Oakham. The schools and hospitals received their charter from Queen Elizabeth I in 1587. He was also one of the eight founding fellows of Jesus College, Oxford.[2][3]
A statue of the Archdeacon can be seen on the Victoria Tower of Uppingham School.