The man who was thus the first master of North America's oldest town school and then became master of what we believe to be England's oldest town school was born in England about 1600. Educated at Charterhouse and the Puritan College of Emmanuel, Cambridge, he was, like many other Puritan ministers, forced to sail to New England, but, as we see, returned to his native country, At Colchester, as at Dorchester, he held the mastership for four years. (This may have been the agreed term at Dorchester; it was certainly specified here, for Kemp, Dugard and Waterhouse all were bound to stay for that period, unless granted the Bailiffs' licence to leave.)
We learn, however, from Palmer's Nonconformist Manual that he had not long been in Colchester "before he had an impulse upon his spirit that some remarkable judgement would befall that place, upon which he determined to remove, and no arguments could prevail with him to stay." He resigned in 1647, and retired to Coddenham, in Suffolk, "where his wife's estates lay." The next year, in June, 1648, Colchester was devastated by the 12-weeks' siege.
Waterhouse, having escaped these dangers, lived to the age of 80, but in his old age was silenced (disqualified from preaching) by the Act of Uniformity (1662). Nevertheless, moving to Ipswich, he preached upon several occasions, "but his principal employment was teaching School, for which he was peculiarly qualified."
Upon the resignation of the next master, Nathaniel Seaman, a Mr. Cotton was recommended by the Town Preacher, but he was not elected, and John Ruting received the post. But Mr. Cotton's wife was apparently not one to accept defeat quietly, for she managed to gain possession of the school house. On September 29th, 1659, the Corporation ordered that:
"Mr John Brazier, Mr George Crasse, and Mr Stephen Emaus or any two of them shall forth with goe to the Grammar Schoole and schoolehouse belonging to this town and presently take the possession of them with all the bookes and appurtenances, for the use and benefitt of the mayor and Cominalty of this towne; And to deliver the possession of the said Schoolehowse and Schoole with the bookes and appurtenances to them belonging to Mr John Ruting master of the said grammer schoole, And it is further ordered that the request of Mrs Cotton and the accompts of Mr Seaman shalbe taken into consideracon the next time the howse shall meete."
Morant says that Mrs. Cotton "endeavoured forcibly to keep" the house, and it seems that she had initial success, for five days later it was agreed:
"That Mrs Cotton shall free the schoolhowse and deliver the possession thereof to Mr Ruting within one monethe. … "
The matter was in the end settled in favour of Mr. Ruting, but we do not know, unfortunately, how the scholars reacted to this excitement. Order, it would seem, had been restored by November,{{|center|22}}
