List of masters of Gresham's School



This is a list of the Masters (later Headmasters) and Ushers (later Second Masters) of Gresham's School, Holt.

Masters, 1562–1900

 * 1571: Master Robinson
 * 1574–1582: Master Harrison
 * 1585–1602: Christopher Williams
 * 1602–1605: Rev. Richard Snoden MA
 * 1605–1606: Rev. Francis Catlyn MA
 * 1606–1639: Thomas Tallis MA
 * 1639–1640: Rev. Nathaniel Gill
 * 1640: Thomas Tallis (again)
 * 1640–1644: Sir Thomas Witherley
 * 1644–1646: John Fenn
 * 1646–1659: Rev. Francis Wright MA, fellow of Merton College, Oxford
 * 1659–1660: Rev. William Hickes MA, previously Master of Oundle
 * 1660–1665: Rev. Henry Mazy MA
 * 1665–1667: Rev. John Goodman (acting Master)
 * 1667–1692: Rev. Thomas Bainbridge MA
 * 1692–1697: Rev. William Reynolds MA
 * 1697–1702: Edward Reynolds
 * 1702–1715: Rev. William Reynolds MA
 * 1715–1729: Rev. David Duncombe MA (d. 1729)
 * 1730–1760: John Holmes - writer of textbooks on grammar, rhetoric and astronomy
 * 1760: John Knox
 * 1760–1787: James Smith
 * 1787–1806: Thomas Atkins
 * 1806–1807: Rev. Mr Babington (acting Master)
 * 1807–1809: Thomas Atkins (again)
 * 1809–1857: Rev. Benjamin Pulleyne, or Pullan MA, fellow of Clare College, Cambridge
 * 1858–1867: Rev. Charles Allen Elton MA BD, fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
 * 1867–1900: Rev. Reginald Jolliffe Roberts MA

Headmasters, 1900 to date

 * 1900–1919: George William Saul Howson MA, formerly of Uppingham, reforming headmaster
 * 1919–1935: J. R. Eccles MA
 * 1935–1944: Philip Staniforth Newell MA
 * 1944–1955: Martin John Olivier MA - previously of Rossall, later head of Guthlaxton College, Wigston Magna
 * 1955–1982: Logie Bruce Lockhart, international rugby footballer
 * 1982–1985: Dr Timothy Phillips Woods MA DPhil
 * 1985–1991: Hugh Wright MA, later Chief Master of King Edward's School, Birmingham (1991–1998) and Chairman of the HMC
 * 1991–2002: John Hardy Arkell MA, formerly head of Wrekin College
 * 2002–2008: Anthony Roy Clark MA, - formerly head of St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown, South Africa
 * 2008–2013 : Philip John - formerly head of King William's College, Isle of Man
 * 2013–2014 : Nigel Flower (acting headmaster)
 * 2014– : Douglas Robb MA MEd

Ushers

 * 1602–1606: Nicholas Stephenson
 * ? to 1621: John Watson
 * 1627–1632: Thomas Cooper
 * 1632–1638: Nicholas Davie
 * 1638: Thomas Cooper (again)
 * 1638–1639: Henry Luce
 * 1640: Henry Luce (again)
 * 1640–1643: Timothy Cutler
 * 1643–1644: Thomas Cooper (again) - hanged in 1650 as a Royalist rebel
 * 1658–1660: Henry Mazy
 * 1661–1665: John Goodman
 * 1689–1692: Thomas Kellway
 * 1692: William Chambers
 * 1692–1695: Thomas Garrett
 * 1695: William Rowland
 * 1696–1697: Thomas Turner
 * 1697–1704: Thomas Plumstead
 * 1705–1708: John Reynolds
 * 1708: John Fox
 * 1708–1713: William Selth
 * 1713–1714: John Spurling
 * 1714–1715: William Chaplyn
 * c. 1718: John Brooke
 * c. 1725: John Holmes
 * 1729: Edward Read
 * 1770s: Christopher Stangroom
 * 1796–1801: David Kinnebrook
 * 1810–1811: Reverend Robert Davies
 * 1811–1813: Peter Barney
 * 1813–1821: Daniel Carr
 * 1821: James Sturley
 * 1821–1828: Thomas Beckwith
 * 1828–1843: William Robert Taylor
 * 1843–1851: John Slann (first Second Master)

Thomas Beckwith used the title "undermaster" in 1821.

Second masters

 * 1843–1851: John Slann (last Usher)
 * 1851: William Allen Rudkin
 * 1851–1857: John Hubbert Kent
 * 1858–1860: J. Rodney Phillips
 * 1860: Berney Wodehouse Raven
 * 1860–1862: Charles Frederick Furbank
 * 1862–1863: Frederick Roy Dowson
 * 1863–1864: George W. Anstiss
 * 1864–1865: Henry David Jones
 * 1865–1866: William Henry Hooper
 * 1866–1867: Matthew Walter Tunnicliffe
 * 1867: William Remington Backhouse
 * 1867: John Robinson Wells
 * 1867–1869: Robert Stokes
 * 1869–1871: Robert Campbell Conolly
 * 1871–1872: John Lowndes >
 * 1872–1880: Stephen Bousfield
 * 1881–1900: John Henry Howell
 * 1900–1907: John Goodrich Wemyss Woods
 * 1907–1919: James Ronald Eccles, later headmaster
 * 1919–1928: John Chambré Miller
 * 1928–1942: Joseph Foster
 * 1942–1963: A. Bruce Douglas
 * 1963–1970: Bernard Sankey
 * 1970–1977: Paul V. A. Colombé
 * 1977–1985: John Coleridge
 * 1985–2001: Richard N. K. Copas

Deputy heads (Pastoral)

 * 2001–2006: S. Smart
 * 2006–2016: N. C. Flower
 * 2016–2020: W.A.M. Chuter
 * 2020-present: E. Alexander

Deputy Heads (Academic)

 * 2001–2010: N. White
 * 2010–2013: D. Miles
 * 2013–2016 : S. Kinder
 * 2016–2023: T.P. Hipperson
 * 2024-present: D. Chart-Boyles

Chaplains

 * 1900–1901: R. L. Langford
 * 1901–1908: E. E. M. Benson
 * 1908–1930: Francis George Elwes Field, MA (Cantab.), previously headmaster of Truro Grammar School
 * 1930–1932: J. W. Reynolds
 * 1932–1946: Edward Francis Habershon
 * 1946–1950: Charles L. S. Linnell
 * 1950–1959: Wilfred Andrews
 * 1959–1974: Douglas C. Argyle
 * 1974–1975: Percival Hallewell Rogers (previously headmaster of Portora Royal School, Enniskillen, 1954–1973)
 * 1975–1983 T. Ray Bowen
 * 1983–1991: A. Wadge
 * 1991–1992: R. Buckner
 * 1992–2000: R. N. Myerscough
 * 2000–2020 Bryan R. Roberts

Headmasters of the Junior School

 * 1954–1969: John B. Williams
 * 1969–1979: Michael Hughes
 * 1979–1984: Neville Jones

The Junior School was reorganized into the Preparatory School and the Pre-Preparatory School in 1984.

Headmasters of the Preparatory School

 * 1984–2003: Tony Cuff
 * 2003–2018: James Quick
 * 2018-date: Catherine Braithwaite

Heads of the Pre-Preparatory School

 * 1984–1991: Penelope Moore
 * 1991–1997: Lesley Gillick
 * 1997–2002: Daphne Dawson-Smith
 * 2002–2017: Janette Davidson
 * 2017–present: Sarah Hollingsworth

Housemasters and staff

 * Boys' houses


 * Girls' houses

Notable masters

 * John Holmes (master, 1730–1760), writer of textbooks on grammar, rhetoric and astronomy
 * George Howson (headmaster, 1900–1919)
 * Geoffrey Shaw (music master, 1902–1910), organist and composer
 * C. V. Durell (assistant master, 1904–05), writer of mathematics textbooks
 * Warin Foster Bushell (assistant master, 1907–1912), later headmaster of Michaelhouse and Birkenhead School and president of the Mathematical Association
 * Dalziel Llewellyn Hammick (assistant master, Chemistry, 1910–1918) - research chemist
 * Walter Greatorex (director of music, 1911–1949), composer
 * Arnold Powell (assistant master, early 1900s), later head of Bedford Modern School and Epsom College
 * Frank McEachran (assistant master from 1924), author
 * Denys Thompson (assistant master, English, 1930s), editor of the quarterly Scrutiny with F. R. Leavis and of the journal The Use of English
 * Richard D'Aeth (assistant master, 1938–1940)
 * Charles W. Lloyd (assistant master, 1946–1951), later master of Dulwich College
 * Logie Bruce Lockhart (headmaster, 1955–1982), Scotland rugby footballer
 * Richard Smyth (born 1951), later head of King's School, Bruton
 * Hugh Wright (headmaster 1985-1991), later chief master of King Edward's School, Birmingham (1991–1998) and Chairman of the HMC
 * Patrick Thompson (assistant master, physics, 1965–1983), Conservative Member of Parliament
 * Graeme Fife (classics master, 1970–1979), writer, playwright and broadcaster