Page:VCH Rutland 1.djvu/344

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A HISTORY OF RUTLAND became fellows of Cambridge colleges,-' Samuel Richardson (B.A. 1676, M.A. 1680), of Sid- ney-Sussex ; and Matthew Mason (B.A. 1677, M.A. 1 681) of St. John's. Stockman was succeeded in 1684 by John Savage, a fellow of Sidney-Sussex College, Cam- bridge, where he took his B.A. degree in 1663 and his M.A. in 1667. Twenty-one of his pupils entered St. John's College, the earliest on 16 February 1684-5, '"^'^ *^^ latest, one who had been at Uppingham five years 'under Mr. Savage and Mr. Reddall,' on 9 May 1723. Most of them are described in the registers as sons of ' clerks ' and ' gentlemen ' ; but in the remaining cases there is the greatest variety in the occupation of the parent ; one is a doctor of medicine, another a chemist {pharmacopola), another a tradesman [mercator), two husbandmen [agrlcolae), one a carpenter [faber Hgnarim), one a farmer and grazier (Jirmarius et pecudum saginaior), one a grazier merely {pecudum saginaior), another the schoolmaster himself, whose son Culpepper, admitted 14 May 1706, B.A. 1709, M.A. I 7 13, returned to Uppingham in 1 7 10 as usher under him. Culpepper's immediate predecessors in the ushership were Edmund Salter, appointed in 1700, probably the person of that name who took his B.A. degree from Emmanuel College in 1694 and his M.A. in 1716, and William War- burton, the old Oakham boy already referred to, who became head master of Newark Grammar School." Culpepper Savage only stayed 2 years, being succeeded by Ambrose Reddall in 1712. The prohibition of the teaching of English by the governors in 17 16, already referred to under Oakham School, applied equally to Uppingham. Savage's long reign of thirty-seven years was un- doubtedly a very successful time for the school. Of the 45 school exhibitioners during the period, 38 appear to have graduated at Cambridge : I 5 from Emmanuel, 1 1 from St. John's, 9 from Sidney- Sussex, and 3 from Clare. There is doubt whether one was at St. John's or Emmanuel. Eight fel- lowships at least were gained by them. John Savage, exhibitioner in 1686, described on ad- mission at St. John's on 7 April 1686 as son of John Savage, rector of Morcott,-^ who was B.A. 1689, M.A. 1693, B.D. 1701, was elected a fellow of his own college. William Savage, exhibitioner in the following year, B.A. 1689, M.A. 1693, B.D. 1700, D.D. 17 17, became a fellow of Emmanuel. Richard Whitworth, exhibitioner in 1690, B.A. 1693, M.A. 1697, was elected by his own college, Clare Hall ; Abel Bunning, exhibitioner in 1694, B.A. 1698, M.A. 1702, B.D. 1709, and John Chapman,"' " ne Uppingham School Roll gives no assistance until the beginning of the 1 9th century. " Supra, p. 272. " Admissions to St. Johns, ii, 105. "* Possibly Thomas Chapman, of Emmanuel, B.A. 1703. The uncertainty is due to the omission of the exhibitioner in 1700, B.A. 1701, M.A. 1705, B.D. 1 7 12, became fellows of Emmanuel; Robert Palmer, exhibitioner in 1703, admitted to St. John's from Emmanuel in his third year 9 December 1706,-* B.A. 1707, M.A. 1711, B.D. 1718, D.D. 1725, was a fellow of St. John's ; so too was John Peake, exhibitioner in 1708, admitted on 9 July 1709," B.A. 17 13, M.A. 1 71 7, B.D. 1725, D.D. 1730. Robert Smith, exhibitioner in 17 19 of Sidney-Sussex College, B.A. 1721 M.A. 1725, was also elected fellow on that foundation. One of Savage's pupils was of founder's kin, Woolsey Johnson, elected to an exhibition in 1713 ; he graduated at Clare Hall (B.A. 1717, M.A. 1721), and in 1729 became patron. In 1721 Ambrose Reddall, who had been usher since 17 12, succeeded to the mastership. He was a Balliol man, who had matriculated there on 11 April 1695 at the age of 16, and took his B.A. degree on 17 January 1698-9.^^ He was subsequently incorporated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and his graduation there as M.A. in 1720 was not unconnected with the prospect of an early vacancy at Uppingham. His assumption of office marks the beginning of the decline of the school, which, if we are to draw inferences from the St. John's admission registers, probably extended over 40 years, practically until 1760, though signs of recovery were then apparent. The wise change in the administration of the hospital part of the founda- tion -' made by the governing body probably at some time between 1720 and 1 730, by which the almsfolk were permitted to receive their allowances in their own homes, where they could be better cared for — most opportune at Oakham, where the innovation coincided with the spreading fame of the school under John Adcock — availed nothing at Uppingham. The more doubtful step of throwing the exhibitions at either school open to the pupils of both — ^* intended to safeguard for the district unimpaired the avenues to the universities — worked positive harm. With Oakham admittedly the better school, and Uppingham shorn of its private attraction, the best material from the neighbour- hood drifted steadily towards the institution which offered the greatest advantages. During the period referred to six old boys only entered at St. John's, of whom three were already in the school in Savage's time, as against 34 from Oakham. During the same time 21 exhi- bitioners were selected from Uppingham, of whom about 17 went on to Cambridge, reducing the annual average to less than one-halt of that which had obtained under Savage. The ushers Christian name in the list of exhibitioners printed in Ike Uppingham School Roll. " Admissions to St. Join's, ii, 182. '* Ibid. 195. Foster, Alumni Oxon. " Supra, p. 274. " Ibid. 284