Robert Johnson (Archdeacon of Leicester)

Robert Johnson (1540 – 1625) was a Church of England cleric and the founder of both Oakham School and Uppingham School.

The original school building at Uppingham

Inscription above the door of the Old School of Oakham

He was a Puritan rector of North Luffenham, Rutland, for 51 years, from 1574 until his death. He was also a Canon of Windsor (1572 to 1625) and Archdeacon of Leicester (1591 to 1625),^[1] and using the income from these and other church posts he held 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.

Family

He was born in Stamford to Maurice and Jane Johnson, one of seven children; his father was Member of Parliament 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 Johnson, married Lady Arbella Fiennes, who gave her name to Governor John Winthrop's flagship the Arbella.^[2] Robert Johnson died on 23 July 1625 in North Luffenham and his memorial is in the chancel of the church there.^[3]

Charitable works

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.^[4]^[5]

A statue of Johnson can be seen on the Victoria Tower of Uppingham School.

References

↑ "Archdeacons of Leicester" (PDF). p. 35. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
↑ http://kinnexions.com/smlawson/johnsonm.htm
↑ The registers of North Luffenham, in the county of Rutland. 1572-1812 (1896) p.142; he is described as a "painfull preacher"
↑ Knighton, C. S. (January 2008). "Johnson, Robert (1540/41–1625)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online edition, subscription access). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
↑ "Jesus College, Oxford – The Founders". Jesus College, Oxford. 14 November 2000. Retrieved 2008-02-24.

External links

History of Oakham School and Archdeacon Johnson

Archdeacons of Leicester

High Medieval	Ranulph/Ralph Godfrey Walter Robert de Chesney Hugh Barre Baldric de Segillo Hamo Roger de Rolleston Reimund William Blund of Lincoln Robert Grosseteste William de Dratton/of Lincoln John of Basingstoke Solomon of Dover Roger de Saxenhurst Roger Martival

Late Medieval	Guillaume Cardinal de Farges Raynald Orsini Arnald de Gavarreto Henry Chaddesden William Doune Philippe Cardinal de Cabassoles Giacomo Cardinal Orsini, Dean of Salisbury Poncello Cardinal Orsini John Bottlesham John Elvet Richard Holland Richard Elvet John Legbourne Thomas Barnsley Richard Ewen William Witham Roger Rotherham John Morton Richard Lavender/Lavendre William Spark Henry Wilcocks Richard Maudeley Stephen Gardiner Edward Foxe Edmund Bonner William More, Bishop of Colchester

Early modern	Thomas Robertson Richard Barber Hugh Blythe Robert Johnson Richard Pilkington William Warr Henry Ferne Robert Hitch Clement Breton William Owtram Francis Meres Byrom Eaton John Rogers David Trimnel John Taylor James Bickham Andrew Burnaby Thomas Parkinson Thomas Bonney

Late modern	Henry Fearon Assheton Pownall John Mitchinson John Stocks Frederick MacNutt Cecil Matthews Irven Edwards Berkeley Cole David Silk Michael Edson Richard Atkinson Tim Stratford

Authority control	VIAF: 39244070

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