# 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

| House | Housemaster | Assistant housemaster |
| Howson's | J. Cowan | E. Robinson |
| Farfield | T. Burnett | J. Beales |
| Tallis | C. Cox | C. Oates |
| Woodlands | J. Sharrock | S. Knightbridge |

### Girls' houses

| House | Housemistress | Assistant Housemistress |
| Edinburgh | E. Fern | E. Wilson |
| Queens' (formerly Britten) | V. Seldon | E. Philpott |
| Oakeley | O. Ravilious | D. Majid |

## 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