List of Old King's Scholars

This is a list of some notable former pupils of The King's School, Canterbury, known as Old King's Scholars (abbreviated as OKS). The term King's Scholar referred to the few boys who, by their academic ability at a very young age, won scholarships to King's.

Art

 * Shoo Rayner (born 1956), children's author and illustrator
 * Edmund de Waal (born 1964), artist, potter, and author

Business

 * Sir Ian Cheshire (born 1959), chairman of Barclays UK and former CEO of Kingfisher plc
 * Nicholas Lyons (born 1958), financier and 694th Lord Mayor of London
 * Charles Powell, Baron Powell of Bayswater, KCMG (born 1941), diplomat, businessman and foreign policy adviser to Margaret Thatcher
 * Sir Hugh Robertson (politician) (born 1962), chairman of the British Olympic Association and the Camelot Group, former MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, Minister of State, and Minister for Sport

Engineering, science and medicine

 * Roger C. Field (born 1945), inventor
 * Michael Foale (born 1957), astrophysicist and former NASA astronaut
 * William Harvey (1578–1657), physician
 * Sir Tony Hoare (born 1934), computer scientist
 * Thomas Linacre (c. 1460–1524), humanist scholar and physician
 * Thomas Stapleton (1920-2007), paediatrician
 * John Tradescant the Younger (1608–1662), botanist and gardener

Film, television and theatre

 * Derek Bond (1920-2006) actor
 * Oz Clarke (born 1949), wine writer and television presenter and broadcaster
 * Charles Frend (1909–1977), film director and editor
 * David Gower (born 1957), cricket commentator, former cricketer and captain of the England cricket team
 * John Lloyd (born 1951), television and radio comedy writer and producer
 * Leslie Mitchell (1905–1985), British radio and television announcer
 * Christopher Neame (writer/producer) (1942-2011), film producer and screenwriter
 * Michael Powell (1905–1990), filmmaker
 * Sir Carol Reed (1906–1976), film director
 * Tom Ward (born 1971), film, stage and television actor
 * Antony Worrall Thompson (born 1951), restaurateur, celebrity chef, television presenter and radio broadcaster

History and philosophy

 * Catherine Conybeare (born 1966), academic and philologist
 * Hugh Honour (1927–2016), art historian
 * Jeremy Lawrance (born 1952), linguist and historian
 * Thomas Linacre (c. 1460–1524), humanist scholar and physician
 * Walter Pater (1839–1894), essayist, literary and art critic, fiction writer and humanist
 * George Sale, (1697–1736), Orientalist scholar and solicitor
 * Alan Watts (1915–1973), writer and philosopher
 * William Wyse (1860–1929), classical scholar

Literature

 * Sebastian Barker (1945–2014), poet
 * Richard Boys (1785–1867), Anglican clergyman, chaplain on St. Helena and author
 * Oz Clarke (born 1949), wine writer and television presenter and broadcaster
 * Michael Cordy, novelist
 * David Edwards (1929–2018), former Dean of Norwich, Speaker's Chaplain, Sub-Dean at Westminster Abbey, Dean of Southwark and author
 * Patrick Leigh Fermor (1915–2011), author, scholar and soldier
 * James Hamilton-Paterson (born 1941), poet and novelist
 * John Wesley Harding (born 1965), singer-songwriter and author
 * Dyneley Hussey (1893–1972), war poet, journalist and critic
 * Alaric Jacob (1909–1995), writer, journalist and war correspondent
 * John Lloyd (born 1951), television and radio comedy writer and producer
 * Edward Lucie-Smith (born 1933), writer, poet, art critic and curator
 * John Lyly (c1553–1606), playwright, courtier and parliamentarian
 * Christopher Marlowe (1565–1593), playwright and poet
 * Somerset Maugham (1874–1965), playwright, novelist and short story writer
 * Tristan McConnell, journalist
 * Michael Morpurgo (born 1943), author, poet, playwright and librettist
 * Walter Pater (1839–1894), essayist, literary and art critic, fiction writer and humanist
 * Anthony Price (1928–2019), author
 * Shoo Rayner (born 1956), children's author and illustrator
 * Edmund de Waal (born 1964), artist, potter and author
 * Sir Hugh Walpole (1884–1941), novelist
 * Alan Watts (1915–1973), writer and philosopher

Military

 * John Day (born 1947), former Royal Air Force commander and military advisor to BAE Systems
 * Patrick Leigh Fermor (1915–2011), author, scholar and soldier
 * Arthur Fleming-Sandes (1894–1961), British Army major and Victoria Cross recipient during World War I
 * Harry Gardner (1890–1939), British Army first-class cricketer and officer
 * Bernard Montgomery (1887–1976), British Army field marshal
 * Peter Scawen Watkinson Roberts (1917–1979), Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander and Victoria Cross recipient during World War II
 * William Vousden (1848–1902), British Indian Army major general and Victoria Cross recipient during the Second Anglo-Afghan War

Music

 * Stephen Barlow (born 1954), conductor and former Artistic Director of the Buxton Festival
 * Simon Carrington (born 1942), conductor, musician, and former founding member of The King's Singers
 * Harry Christophers (born 1953), conductor
 * John Wesley Harding (born 1965), singer-songwriter and author
 * William Lewarne Harris (1929-2013), composer and teacher
 * Andrew Marriner (born 1954), former principal clarinettist of the London Symphony Orchestra
 * George Miles (1913–1988), organist
 * Christopher Seaman (born 1942), conductor
 * Stephen Varcoe (born 1949), classical singer

Politics

 * Charles Abbott, 1st Baron Tenterden (1762–1832), barrister and judge
 * Natascha Engel (born 1967), former MP for North East Derbyshire
 * Catherine Fall, Baroness Fall, political advisor and former Downing Street Chief of Staff under David Cameron
 * Tristan Garel-Jones (1941–2020), former MP for Watford
 * George Gipps (1790–1847), Governor of New South Wales
 * Fairfax Luxmoore (1876–1944), barrister and judge who sat as Lord Justice of Appeal
 * Anthony Parsons (1922–1996), diplomat, former British ambassador to Iran, and former British Permanent Representative to the UN
 * Charles Powell (born 1941), diplomat, businessman, and foreign policy adviser to Margaret Thatcher
 * Jonathan Powell (born 1956), diplomat and former Downing Street Chief of Staff under Tony Blair
 * Hugh Robertson (born 1962), chairman of the British Olympic Association and the Camelot Group, former MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, Minister of State, and Minister for Sport
 * Patrick Walker (born 1932), former Director General of MI5

Religion

 * Gavin Ashenden (born 1954), former Anglican priest and continuing Anglican bishop
 * Richard Boys (1785–1867), Anglican clergyman, chaplain on St. Helena, and author
 * William Broughton (1788–1853), Anglican Bishop of Australia
 * David Edwards (1929–2018), former Dean of Norwich, Speaker's Chaplain, Sub-Dean at Westminster Abbey, Dean of Southwark, and author
 * Reginald Glennie, first-class cricketer and clergyman
 * Michael Mayne (1929–2006), former Dean of Westminster
 * Howard Mowll (1890–1958), former Anglican Archbishop of Sydney

Sport

 * Ronald Binny (1910–1979), first-class cricketer and British Indian Army officer
 * Harry Gardner (1890–1939), first-class cricketer and British Army officer
 * Reginald Glennie (1864–1953), first-class cricketer and clergyman
 * David Gower (born 1957), cricket commentator, former cricketer and captain of the England cricket team
 * Bob Haines (1906–1965), cricketer
 * Frances Houghton (born 1980), Olympic rower and World Champion
 * Millie Knight (born 1999), Paralympic skier
 * Cecil Paris (1911–1998), first-class cricketer; chairman of the Test and County Cricket Board (1968–1969) and president of the Marylebone Cricket Club (1975)
 * Tom Ransley (born 1985), former Olympic rower and World Champion
 * Ollie Robinson (born 1993), England cricketer
 * Fred Scarlett (born 1975), Olympic rower

Other

 * Gregory Blaxland (1778–1853), pioneer settler, explorer, and co-leader of the first crossing of the Blue Mountains
 * John Blaxland (1769–1845), pioneer settler and explorer
 * Hubert Chesshyre (1940–2020), retired British officer of arms found to have committed child sexual abuse
 * Myles Jackman, (born 1974/75), lawyer
 * Jacquetta Wheeler (born 1981), model
 * Peter, Hereditary Prince of Yugoslavia (born 1980)