Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Keyes, Roger
KEYES or KEYS, ROGER (d. 1477), architect and warden of All Souls' College, Oxford, is first mentioned in 1437, when, together with John Druell, afterwards archdeacon of Exeter, he was architect and inspector of works at the building of All Souls' College, Oxford, by Archbishop Chichele [q. v.] He was one of the original fellows of the college, and succeeded Richard Andrews as warden in 1442, holding that post for three years. In 1448 Keyes was summoned by Henry VI to act as clerk of the works for the new royal foundation of Eton College, with a salary of 50l. a year. For his services at Eton he and his brother, Thomas Keys, received a grant of arms and patent of nobility from the king on 19 May 1449, and he was collated to the archdeaconry of Barnstaple, 25 Jan. 1449–50. Keyes acted as precentor of Exeter Cathedral in 1467 and 1469, and apparently held the post till his death. In 1469 he made a present of books to Exeter College, Oxford. Keyes died on 11 Nov. 1477, and was buried at Exeter.
[Dict. of Architecture; Burrows's Worthies of All Souls; Bentley's Excerpta Historica; Anthony à Wood's Hist. of Oxford; Willis and Clark's Architectural Hist. of Cambridge; Le Neve's Fasti Eccl. Angl. i. 407, 411.]