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Home , Dean of Westminster, George Hooper, John Pell, Philip Henry, Richard Busby, Thomas Sprat

HOOKE AND by Edward Smith Under Master,

In the library of Westminster School is a first edition of the History of the Royal Society1. The copy epitomises the vitality and the central position of the institution that was Westminster in the latter part of the seventeenth century. The author was the of Westminster and , , he was also ex officio the chairman of the Governing Body of the School. The book had been a gift of William Lord Brereton to his friend, the mathematician, , who is the author of the marginal corrections. John Pell in turn left this and a large part of his library to his close friend , the Head Master (and indeed a Prebendary of the Abbey after the Restoration) of whom he was a constant visitor and regular correspondent. On page 232 is An Account of a Dog dissected by the Old Westminster, , whose circle of friends and colleagues encompassed these and a large part of educated society, again a friend and frequent visitor of Dr Busby. The one of those named who was not a Fellow of the Royal Society, Richard Busby, was to play a very significant role in education in the second half of the seventeenth century. Around 1650 Robert Hooke had the good fortune to join Westminster School; the influence upon him of the School and, in particular, of its Head Master was to be profound. It is my intention in what follows to throw a little light on this largely unexplored part of Hooke’s story. I hope to demonstrate that during his time at the school he had the best education that was available, and, importantly, that he would have been encouraged to develop his scientific skills. So that when Hooke arrived at Christ Church in, perhaps, 1655, his potential would already have been recognised, his talents developed, and he would have been aware of the profound changes overtaking the world of experimental philosophy. He was able very quickly, as a result, to gain acceptance in that world, which was to be pivotal in his life. But his relationship with his old headmaster did not end when he left Westminster School; I shall review some of Dr Busby’s building projects in which he was helped by Hooke. It is necessary first to explore the significance of Busby and Westminster School at this time, so that specific academic details can be set in context. Busby was Head Master for over 55 years, the stability that his longevity afforded would, alone, have established his importance. His remarkable abilities, both in teaching and in encouraging independence of mind in his pupils, inspired two generations. Despite the pressures Dr Richard Busby, Head Master, and pitfalls around him, he never allowed the Westminster School 1639-95 responsibility of his office nor his

1 personal beliefs to be compromised. That Busby held uncompromisingly to his principles was to inspire and bind his pupils to him so strongly that they seldom wished to break away completely. Though there was turmoil on its doorstep, through the latter part of the seventeenth century the School produced a huge range of talented men2. During this time of political and religious foment, on the one hand had sent his son to Busby because he perceived his Royalist allegiance, and on the other, though the Dryden household had the celebrated Puritan preacher Dod as a member, it did not feel uncomfortable about the son’s education at Westminster. During the Commonwealth, an Ordinance of the Lords and Commons abolished the roles of the Dean and Chapter of ‘The College of St Peter in Westminster’ and invited Puritan divines to conduct series of sermons in the Abbey; nevertheless the Arminian tendencies of Richard Busby were tolerated in the shadow of the same church. Indeed the Lord Protector himself can hardly have been unaware of the of Dr Busby3 on which he never compromised, to the point of being entered as ‘sickly’4 when he should have been taking the Covenant. The very special qualities that Busby had were too important to be lost to the nation. The early 18th- century essayist Sir Richard Steele5 was to say ‘I must confess that I am of the opinion Busby’s Genius for education had as great an Effect upon the age he lived in, as that of any ancient Philosopher, without excepting one, had on his Contemporaries’. His intolerance of indolence may well have been considered excessive even then6, but he also encouraged individual talent and freedom of debate at every opportunity7. The biographer of the Non-Conformist divine and diarist, writes: ‘I have heard him tell how much he surprised the Doctor, the first time he waited upon him after he was turn’d out by the Act of Uniformity: For when the Doctor asked him, Pr’ythee (Child) what made thee a Nonconformist? Truly Sir, saith Mr Henry, you made me one; for you taught me those things that hindered me from conforming’ .The divine, , in the Sermon8 that he wrote to preach to Old Westminsters, but which was never delivered because of the king’s death, and in which he says that the School publicly prayed for King Charles I not two hours before his execution, gives advice to teachers based on his own experience at Westminster: ‘Where they find a youth of spirit, let them endeavour to govern that spirit, without extinguishing it.’ How broad was the curriculum that Robert Hooke followed is hard to discover. Indeed there are few sources to give us a clear overview of what was taught in schools in the mid seventeenth century, and it is often suggested that many subjects would be taught by private tutors, with the only formal teaching being in Classics. For Westminster there is no single document of the right period that explores the full range of subjects. There are three well-known manuscripts (the Laudian, Frowick’s and the Shaftesbury)9, but these give us insight almost exclusively into the Classical curriculum that was taught up School. That latter phrase needs further explanation: in Westminster’s private language that means ‘in the main School Hall’, where all the formal class instruction took place until 1884. So Aubrey’s statement, ‘I have heard Sir Richard Knight (who was his school-fellow) say that he seldome sawe him in the schoole’, could be interpreted to mean that, rather than up School, he studied either in Dr Busby’s house, where he boarded, or possibly in the Museum (Library), under the direction, but not necessarily close supervision, of a tutor. The few mentions, in the three references above, to books and subjects other than the classics, are to Hunter’s Rudimenta Cosmographica and to Aratus’s Φαινοµενα. had purchased George Abbot’s A briefe description of the whole world. Wherin is particularly described all the monarchies, empires and kingdomes of the same, etc. in 164910 which indicates that the study of geography

2 begun at Westminster under Head Master Osbaldeston had continued under Busby. Aratus’s work is largely based on Eudoxus. It was probably studied for the verse rather than the astronomy, but that astronomy was studied is very evident from the number of works on the subject in the Busby Library, which the School still maintains11. In the library there are multiple copies of Sacro Bosco (John Hollywood): Sphaera Emendata, which suggests that it might have been a standard pupil text. The mathematical texts that are to be found in the Library, are all one might expect, and include William Oughtred (eg Circle of Proportions, 1632), of course, and perhaps twenty different editions of Euclid. A number of the latter are octavo (eg ’s edition), and are perhaps school boy pocket size. A detailed breakdown of the mathematical works in Busby’s collection during Hooke’s time awaits a re-cataloguing that notes the large gift of John Pell’s works to the Library later in the century. We can confirm from Pell’s correspondence that at least a few years after Hooke, mathematics was enthusiastically studied by Busby and his pupils: Pell assisted Thomas Brancker in the translation of Rahn’s Introduction to Algebra, which was avidly read by Head Master and pupils12. The central position of mathematics in the curriculum is confirmed by the 1688 edition of the Grammar which becomes Rudimentum Anglo-Latinum Grammaticae Literalis & Numeralis with the addition of 93 pages of arithmetic. Of oriental languages that are mentioned in Waller13 we can only speculate. However the Elizabethan Statutes of the School required that Latin, Greek and Hebrew were taught. The Greek and Latin Grammars that Busby used were produced from his own teaching, under his own supervision, and seemingly rewritten by each new generation of pupils. Similarly he produced for his pupils a Hebrew Grammar14, it remained unprinted, but was regularly transcribed and updated by the pupils. That Hebrew was well established is clear from John Locke’s letter to his father about his oration for Election to Christ Church15. A little later we have confirmation from Evelyn16 that Arabic too is taught: ‘I heard and saw such exercises at the election of scholars at Westminster School to be sent to the University in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic, in themes and extemporary verses, as wonderfully astonished me in such youths, with such readiness and wit, some of them not above twelve, or thirteen years of age’. It is difficult to judge exactly when Busby began to teach Arabic at the School. It seems likely that he began teaching it as soon as he felt he was capable of it. On the evidence of his pupils’ university careers it seems unlikely that his studies predate the publication of the Polyglot Bible17 early in the 1650’s; however very soon he is involved with the Lexicon Heptaglotton of Castell. (the Physician and pamphleteer, who incidentally had been introduced to Sir Henry Vane by Busby, and benefited from his charity as a result) and (the , of whom Busby said ‘He was the best scholar, the finest gentleman, and will make the completest bishop that ever was educated at Westminster School.’) made their way to Oxford in the 1650’s to pursue interests in Arabic, which is likely to have begun at the School. In the sale catalogue of Robert Hooke’s library18 sold after his death there are no examples of Hebrew or Arabic: it would appear that he, like so many of his contemporaries at Westminster, chose not to pursue the subject further19. However his interest in language continued, as for many of his friends, with the idea of a universal language and, much later, perhaps through his friendship with Captain Knox, in Far Eastern languages20. Perhaps Evelyn was thinking of him when he wrote of the study of Arabic at Westminster: ‘Pity it is, that what they attain here so ripely, they either do not retain, or do not improve more considerably when they come to be men’21. It should be mentioned that, radically, Dr Busby did introduce the teaching of English grammar. Again the text was written and updated by pupils, but it was finally published by William Walker22 with a dedication to Dr Busby. Walker was an Usher

3 at Westminster but then moved on to be Headmaster of Grantham Grammar School, where incidentally he just missed teaching Isaac Newton, but in later life was on intimate terms with him. Music, too, was important in Dr Busby’s life: in Thomas Vincent’s diary there are several instances of musical evenings, singing, playing the organ or percussion instruments23. In the inventory of effects at his death is listed a pair of organs, doubtless including the one upon which Hooke learned his twenty lessons24. That visitors to Westminster, eminent in their fields, should interest themselves in the boys’ education would be de rigueur to Dr Busby. For example , later to become , a scholar and divine, a musician and an architect, was in 1656 a near contemporary of Hooke; his early skill in mathematics attracted the eighty-three years old William Oughtred, who encouraged him with an inscribed copy of his Trigonometria, 165725. Similarly Aubrey’s report of ’s gift of Mathematicall Magick to Hooke shows an inspirational act at a seminal point in Hooke’s career of a text that places the study of applied mathematics in an intellectual context; there were other applied mathematics treatises available to Hooke too in Busby’s well stocked Library26. The craft and technical skills of Hooke’s earlier childhood begin to have an intellectual basis in these works. It is interesting to speculate when Hooke first employed his practical proficiency in scientific or engineering experiments. He may well have had access to the skills of the artisans working around (still surviving even without Dean and Chapter, through the Commonwealth), and possibly begun to develop the stoop that Aubrey27 describes as the product of hours spent at the lathe. There is some basis for believing that during his brief school career at Westminster, had had such opportunity: we know of no recorded interest from him in things mechanical before November 1645, when he was just over 13 and dedicated his Panorganum Astronomicum28 to his father, presumably during his time at the School. This is an instrument whose purpose appears unexplained and whose description is lost. At about the same time he invented a Pneumatick Engine and a peculiar instrument for use in Gnomonicks 29, presumably his own sundial. Leaving aside Sir Christopher’s son’s tendency to embroider in Parentalia, the letters amply confirm that some sort of opportunity to develop mechanical skills was open to the pupils. It is clear from the inventory of effects in Dr Busby’s house in Little Cloister at his death in April 169530 that at some stage he had developed an interest in some of those instruments that also interested Hooke. The effects include a Bambo stick with a Perspective in it; a large long Perspective Glasse 7ft long; a brass Quadrant 12 inches same diameter by Sutton; a Plumbred Quadrant 11 inches same diameter Gunters projection; an Astralobe (sic) 18 inches Diameter; a brass horizontal Dyall 6 inches Diameter; two burning Glasses one of them 8 the other 4 inches Diameter. If these effects cannot have been in place at the start of Hooke’s career, it shows a mind open to matters of scientific interest and the practical use of scientific instruments. In considering his interest in solutions to practical problems it is tempting to begin by considering his obsession with flying. It were disingenuous of any reader not to admit to at least five ‘several ways’ of making paper aeroplanes. Beyond that the contemporary boy’s mind might quite easily turn to a precursor of hot air balloons: a paper dart thrown across the open central fire in College Hall would very soon demonstrate the lift that hot air would give. Equally he may have had the opportunity to explore kite flying in nearby Tothill Fields31. But, further, how could Hooke explore the mechanical process of manpowered flight at School? It appears to be an idée fixe of the era of course, not just for Hooke, as mentioned by Aubrey and throughout the diary: there is also Wren, and other contemporaries32. Perhaps Hooke’s

4 interest was in part inspired by Busby’s copy of Wilkins’s The Discovery of a New World (1640). It is clear that Hooke will have benefited from an institution at the cutting edge of school education. But Busby’s importance should be explored in a broader educational context. Henry Stubbe’s diatribe, against the in general and Christ Church33 in particular, may well be written with deep irony, but for the satire to work there must have some marginally believable substance. Busby would have been amused to hear the suggestion, ‘Let the Honourable the Governours of Westminster School be entrusted with supreme power of the Colledge (Christ Church)...Let the foundation be supplyed from Westminster School’. Dr Busby believed in widening the availability of education; this led him to an interest in the wider social context. He was engaged in charitable involvement in a School at Lutton in Lincolnshire and in the Green Coat Hospital in nearby Tothill Fields (the latter with Hooke’s professional assistance), but also in further education which led him to founding readerships in Hebrew and in Mathematics at Christ Church (from which all that appears to remain is the Common Room!)34. Richard Busby cannot have been less charitable at Westminster School than he clearly was elsewhere. There is some evidence that he used the lesser scholarships of Bishop Williams’s foundation for exactly this purpose35. Recent evidence36 suggests that Hooke came to London with only £50; some simple calculations suggest that this would not in the usual course of events have lasted even two years at Westminster. We must assume that despite the diarist Pepys’s claim that Busby was ‘devilish covetous’37, he was able to extend charity to Hooke’s education. Robert Hooke acknowledged the debt that he owed to Busby, who became both his employer and his friend. In the formal setting of an Affidavit to prove a codicil of Busby’s Will, following his death in 1695, Hooke notes his long cooperation with his friend over many projects and years, since his school days: ‘Robert Hooke of Gresham Colledge London Reader of Geometry there and Doctor of Phisick aged Sixty two Yeares or thereabouts being Educed as a Witnesse on the parte of the complainants in this Cause was on the 12th day of July in the year of Our Lord 1697 shewed in person at the Seat of Mr Norton who is the Clerk that deales for the Defendants in the Cause... being sworne &c deposeth and saith To the first Interrogation That he did know Richard Busby Dr in Divinity late deceased & hath been acquainted with him for the space of forty yeares now last past & upwards this Deponent being Schollar to the said Dr Busby... that this Deponent The Quire of Westminster Abbey assisted him the said Dr Busby in the reproduced by kind permission of the Dean and Chapter beautyfieing of the School & Colledge at Westm where in the said Dr Busby laid out about the Sume of Two Thousand Pounds & this Deponent having been so formerly consulted with by the said Doctor Busby in such works & benefactons as aforesaid’38. Other than the Affidavit there is only one further direct reference to Hooke as a pupil at Westminster. This second one takes us back to the early years of Hooke and Busby’s relationship. It is a contemporary list of pupils, perhaps of tutees, by an

5 Usher; it is not in Dr Busby’s, nor the Under Master, Thomas Vincent’s, hand. The internal evidence leads to the conclusion that it was written in 1654 or, possibly, 1655, though I incline to the former39. Others that I am able to identify from the list, that are of Hooke’s age, appear to go to Christ Church or Trinity in the following year. I believe, then, that though the earliest date we can put on Hooke’s arrival at Christ Church is 1654, it is much more likely to be 1655, or later. From the direct evidence of School lists and with nothing primary to conflict with this, we can safely say that Waller40 is wrong by one or two years. However there is a further curious point that Hooke’s age is listed as 16, whereas we know it to have been at least 18. The range of ages at which Westminsters left to go to the universities was broad at that time; indeed it was not unknown that a pupil entered Westminster aged 20! But is this list possibly a slight of hand from Busby? Could it be that the relatively unschooled Hooke, whose talent was obvious to Busby, had to work at his formal education in forms lower than his age would suggest and this was a device to save embarrassment? It is well known that Westminster School nurtured a large number of literary figures, but Westminster also brought together a cross section of the scientific world. Busby was in regular contact with many Old Westminsters and others, as is noted in both Vincent’s and Hooke’s diaries, and abundantly aware of the world around him and of academic developments. Busby was the conduit through which several collections of books and papers passed (Harriot’s, Warner’s and Pell’s, for example), indeed, if Gunther’s reference to ‘JG’ as John Gee (Busby’s manservant/secretary) is correct, even letters from Isaac Newton may well have passed through Busby’s hands en route to Hooke41. In 1667 the Old Westminster anatomist, Walter Needham, close friend of Boyle, Lower and Millington (the latter both OWW), finally published his paper De Formato Foetu, but in the 1664 edition of De vitelli in intestina pulli transitu Epistola, Stensen refers to a rediscovery (of avian outgrowth from intestine to yolk), and says that Needham has ten years priority. There is a series of letters of 1654/5 from Walter Needham to his old Head Master, Dr Busby42. It is possible that the letter of 2 May 1655 is referring to this paper. It is certainly the case that these letters are no mere letters of duty or of flattery. In particular that of 4 February 1654, which Busby will have received while Hooke was still at School, is a fascinating statement of the emerging philosophy of the experimentalists: it is a rejection of Descartes, Gassendus and the Rationalists, and a complete acceptance of Baconian views43, with an insistence that Aristotle should be reviewed in this new light. At the very time that Hooke was his pupil Busby was very clearly part of this important debate: it is unthinkable that he would not have engaged the pupils in this discussion. When Robert Hooke arrived at Christ Church, he would have been intellectually equipped for the next stage of his education, and, through Westminster, he would have had entrée into the circle that was to foster and encourage his scientific education. All the indications are that Busby would have maintained his contact with him through this part of his career, offering advice and possibly financial assistance. Robert Hooke’s later interest in education will have been influenced by Busby’s example and by contemporary debate. John Locke was a lifelong friend of Hooke and a near contemporary at Westminster; I do not doubt that they exchanged views on education generally and from their own experience. John Locke’s less literary and almost utilitarian philosophy of education was far from Dr Busby’s ideals. It is interesting to note that his belief in firm discipline meant he would consider Dr Busby’s corrective, pragmatically, if his own system were to break down: ‘... A French man it must bee that he may not loose the French tongue or else I might advise you to Westminster or some other very severe schoole, where if he were whipd soundly whilst you were looking out for another fit Tutor for him he would perhaps

6 be the more pliant and willing to learne at home afterwards.’44 Throughout his life Hooke encouraged the education of the young: actively through the Mathematical School at Christ’s Hospital where he was a Governor45, from where he encouraged pupils to come to his lectures in Gresham College46. It is likely that in his many visits to Busby47 he met and discussed his projects with the pupils of Westminster; he may well have encouraged them to visit him in Gresham48. On at least one occasion Robert Hooke visited his friend and near contemporary in their schooldays, Thomas Gale, who composed the inscription for the Monument49, at his house at St Paul’s School, where he was headmaster; here too he would surely have engaged with the pupils. His interest in his old School continued even after his old Head Master’s death: he is noted as attending the oath-taking of the new Head Master, Thomas Knipe50. On 5 July 1660, after the Restoration, Richard Busby received the reward of his loyalty and was ‘sworne and installed’ a Prebendary of Westminster and four days later Treasurer51. His new status within the community, backed by his considerable income, now allowed Busby to influence or to initiate several building projects. It was not until 1672 that we are certain from Hooke’s diary that he and Busby were once more in regular contact. Though it is not possible to trace through masons’ bills the full extent of work that Hooke carried out for Busby in School and Abbey, there are various bills which add some minor detail to Hooke’s notes in his diary. Other details are listed following several squabbles over payments and claims of fraud against the Clerk of the Works, Thomas Plucknett52. In 1670 Busby was given a house in Little Cloister, but it was clearly not in a fit state to be occupied. It was very late in his life that Busby finally moved into this house that Hooke had designed for him, remodelling the original, adding a floor and digging a cellar. There is a photograph of the fine ceiling in the house that shows the date of completion, 168753. Alas Busby’s house was destroyed during the Second World War and not rebuilt, unlike his Library, also executed largely under Hooke’s supervision54 and also bombed, whose ceiling and bookcases are scarcely different from the originals of the seventeenth century, and it still houses many of the books that Robert Hooke would have used. The only lasting reminders of this Little Cloister prebendal ceiling, 1687 cooperation at Westminster Reproduced by permission of English Heritage. NMR. are the marble Pavement in the Quire in the Abbey55 and the Portico into School56.Hooke had also worked on the Solomon’s Porch57; it remained problematic for some time and, though Hooke oversaw the re-glazing of the Rose Window (his glazier, Gregory, calls it the Marigold Window58), it was thoroughly reworked finally by Dickinson in 1719-2259.

7 Hooke was rewarded for his service to the Abbey by his appointment as Surveyor with an annuity of £20 on 14 January 1690/91. By this time his friend Busby was ageing; his servant John Gee endeavoured to keep relations between him and the various workmen and friends on an even keel. There is an interesting letter to Hooke from Gee gently sorting out payment to John Angier for work on the Green Coat Hospital60. Busby had paid for a boarding house to be built at the Hospital (a charity school) in Tothill Fields. There is a detailed prescription and estimate of the materials for its building, and Hooke was appointed to survey it. The final bill was in excess of the original estimate and needed Hooke’s approval. The building work was carried out by John Angier61, who was a governor of the Hospital. It is surely likely that the plan for the Hospital was the result of consultation between Angier and Hooke, they may well have previously cooperated on the speculative house-building in St James’s Square, where they were both at work in 167762. Later Busby leased a small plot of land from the Chapter63, and at his own expense built a wall around it to attach it to the Hospital. The wall was also built under Hooke’s supervision64. It is for another to explore the details of the building and provision of St Mary Green Coat Hospital, the building on the right was paid for by Richard Busby Magdalene at Willen, but reproduced by kind permission of Westminster City Archives that is perhaps the outstanding testimony to their friendship. In 1693 Busby determined to beautify St Nicholas’s Church in Lutton, the village of his birth. He was very firm that he was not going to repair fabric, that was for the parish; he wanted to embellish. He obtained a licence to do that from Bishop Tenison of Lincoln, who sought the advice of the village: they whole-heartedly accepted the offer. Hooke instructed the carpenter Noell Ansell to survey the church; he was prepared to offer advice, but he did not want to get too involved, getting wary of the increasingly cantankerous Busby. Indeed by this time he either was ageing himself or using his age as a way of gradually withdrawing from his work at Westminster. In 1693 he retired as the Abbey’s Surveyor: ‘It was ordered that Dr Hooke with respect to his Age & infirmities, being not able to attend the occasions about the Colledge of Westr be ... discharged from giving himselfe any further trouble in surveying the workes about the Colledge’65. By Busby’s death in 1695 Ansell had produced, to Hooke’s design, a communion table and rails for Lutton; Hooke had asked to see the quality of his work before giving him the full commission. Those rails still stand, very similar to those at Willen, the communion table is also there, but in a very sorry state, and removed from the central position. The font and pavement are as Hooke had specified, but the characteristic black and white marble floor of the presbytery was swept away by meddling Victorians, to be replaced by tiles. The pulpit and type have been restored. The former bears Richard Busby’s initials and the date of completion, 1703. The type has been returned to its place, albeit at an odd angle in order to reveal the inlay, after having done service for some time in a nearby church vestry as a table used for making sandwiches! It is curious that Hooke’s interview, from which I have quoted, was needed at all, to prove the jottings of Receiver-General John Needham to be a codicil to Busby’s will66. The testimony of the Bishop’s licence

8 together with the work already completed for the church, but lying in the house in Little Cloister, should surely have been enough. At Busby’s death on 5 April 1695, there ended a long friendship from which Robert Hooke and Richard Busby had gained so much. It was fitting that Busby should be laid to rest under the marble pavement that he had paid for, and that his pupil had executed for him, in the church which had given employment to both.

Notes

1 Sprat 1667. 2 The most often quoted statistic is that thirteen bishops were the product of Busby’s Westminster. Though the historian of the Royal Society, Bishop Thomas Sprat, was said to “have thanked God that though he was not educated at Westminster, yet he became a Bishop”. The histories of the School often highlight those whose talents have shone in the arts or as statesmen, but some further indicators of the breadth of the talent that the School nurtured are that before Busby’s death twenty four Old Westminster had joined the Royal Society, including four Presidents (Hoskyns, Montagu, Wren, and Wyche); nine had become members of the Royal College of Physicians; there were botanists (Plukenet, Uvedale, Charleton), and at least one chemist (Frewin). 3 Wetenhall 1678, Introduction reads: To the Learned and truly Venerable, Dr. Richard Busby, My ever Honoured Master. Sir, I rather prefix this Recognition to the ensuing Discourse, than to either of the other in its company, because, Sir, it was truly the sense I had of Your piety, which first operated towards the Reconciling me to Church-Musick. I came to You with prejudices (very unreasonable, such as commonly all prejudices are) against it: The first Organ I ever saw or heard, was in Your House, which was in those days a more regular Church than most we had publickly. I then thus judged, if a man of such real Devotion, I knew You to be of, would keep an organ for sacred use, even when it was interdicted and of dangerous consequence, there was certainly more reason than I apprehended. Also Bodleian MS Rawlinson D 216 (wrongly ascribed to William James in early catalogues, and in fact the diary of Under Master Thomas Vincent (J B Whitmore) for the first four months of 1655. Many of the names used are still obscure in that they are often Latinised surnames or nicknames). On January 30 an ambassador and one of the Members of Parliament is at Busby’s house to hear music. On March 18 Busby fetched Vincent and took him to Philomelus where Vincent heard Busby and others singing; they took the Protector’s Organist back to supper. 4 Covenant signatories in a MS of the Busby Trustees in WAM 5 Steele 1714, 27th April 1714, No 27 6 Pope 1742, ll 139-148 When lo! A Spectre rose, whose index-hand Held forth the Virtue of the dreadful wand; His beaver’d brow a birchen garland wears, Dropping with infant’s blood, and mother’s tear. O’er ev’ry vein a shudd’ring horror runs; Eton and Winton shake thro’ all their Sons. All flesh is humbled, Westminster’s bold race Shrink, and confess the Genius of the place; The pale Boy-Senator yet tingling stands, And holds his breeches close with both his hands. 7 Henry 1712, p5 8 South 1717, p29. 9 Winn 1987. Appendix B for an excellent modern translation and, uniquely, a single volume containing all three documents. 10 Cranston 1957. p 23 has a list of Locke’s expenditure for Michaelmas 1649. 11 The range of titles is too large to list here, but it inevitably includes inter alia Ptolemy: Magna Construcionis (Almagest), 1559; Kepler: Epitome Astronomiae Coppernicanae, 1635; Gassendus: Institutio Astronomica, cui accesserunt Galilei Nuntius Sidereus, et Johanis Kepleri Dioptrice, 1653. 12 BL Birch Add MSS 4398 fol 196 Out of Moses Pitt’s letter dated June 2 1668. To Mr Brancker I have hopes the Algebra will take well. One of Dr Busby’s Scholars had one of me Friday last and He told me the Doctor did highly extoll it and read it to them usually every night: and all that have it do like it well. 13 Waller 1667

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14 In the Busby Library is to be found Ravius, A Discourse of the Orientall Tongues, 1649 which may well have been a precursor to Busby’s Grammar. 15 Cranston 1957, p27, letter to his father. 16 Bray (1852) Vol I, p352: 11 May 1661. 17 In this I concur with Toomer 1996, pp 265-268, who discusses the subject at some length, though the proof is fundamentally based on lack of evidence of earlier indications. 18 Rostenberg 1989 19 There are of course notable exceptions, for example in William Taswell, the Busby lecturer in Hebrew at Christ Church, and in , the first Busby Lecturer in Hebrew, but who has a claim as an Arabist from his research for his Life of Mahomet. 20 Gunther 1935, 31 July 1693. 21 Bray (1852) Vol I, p352 13 May 1661. 22 Walker 1655 23 Thomas Vincent’s Diary, op cit Jan 1 Jan 11, Feb 28 24 from a MS of the Busby Trustees in WAM: also listed are: An Harpsicon: An old Lute: A Bass Violl: A many prick’d lessons &c for Vocals and Instrumentall Musick. 25 Hiscock 1960, p3. 26 from eg Ubaldus: Mecanicorum Liber (1615) to Gilbert: De Magnete ,1600. 27 Waller 1667. 28 Wren 1750, p182 29 ibid, p182 30 from a MS of the Busby Trustees in WAM 31 Though no exactly contemporary reference to kite-flying at the School exists, in The True Domestick Intelligence for Friday, 30 January 1680 is a brief note: London, Jan 27, 1680: It is reported that several Schools in and about London have petitioned his Majesty, that he will be pleased to give them the late Petitions to make Kites of; which if granted, it is supposedt the Westminster Scholars will have them, as being particularly his Majesties favour. 32 Dickinson 1970, p27 33 Stubbe 1659 (BL Thomason Tract E 988/25) 34 Christ Church, Oxon, Archives, Dp ii c1 f75 35 Westminster School Archives, A3/65: A paper by W P Holmes arguing that was the recipient of one of these scholarships. 36 Nakajima 1994, pp 11-16. 37 Wheatley 1928, Vol VI, p 301, So I with them to Westminster by coach; the Cofferer telling us odd stories how he was dealt with by the men of the Church at Westminster in taking a lease of them at the King’s coming in, and particularly the devilish covetousness of Dr Busby. 38 Ms in the Busby Trustees collection, Westminster Abbey Muniments (WAM) In Libro Depositinn: fo: 99: usq fo: 109: produced for Sir Thomas Trevor Knight. His Majties Attornie Generall. 39 WAM 43112. The list is broken into three forms. The names include parentage and age. So for example it includes Henry Ardern, aged 13, elected to Trin Coll, Camb, in 1659, aged 18; Martin Hill, aged 14, who was admitted sizar to St John’s, Camb, aged 16 in May 1656; George Hooper, aged 15, was born in 1640. Many others’ biographical details are unknown. It is not possible to judge when in the year such a list might be compiled, nor for what reason, and therefore there could be some inaccuracy in the ages. However none of the list whose dates for going up to university are known (19 of them) arrive before 1655. 40 Waller 1667. 41 Gunther 1935, 11 June 1689 42 Birch Add MSS 4292 f84, 4292 f87, 4293 f85. 43 Birch Add MSS 4292 f87: My Lord Bacon whom I therefore quote because he is the most rationall of all the opposers of Aristotle & the rest are but dwarfes to this Giant. 44 De Beer 1979, Vol iv. Letter 1471 to Edward Clarke. 45 Robinson and Adams 1968, 23 November 1672: Received from Sir J Frederick a green staff of governor of Christs hospitall. 46 Gunther 1935, eg 29 May 1649: tea with Dr Busby, he told me of a Mathemat teacher 47 Ibid., 29 May 1693 48 Robinson and Adams 1968, 23 July 1677 A Westmonasterian here about Barometer and Thermometer. and Gunther 1935, 22 January 1688/9 Dined with Dr Busby. Tompion & Aturbury junr squeezing & Diamt Watches (probably , one of Busby’s pupils and subsequently ).

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49 BL Birch Add MSS 4398 fol 202: (this is part of the collection of Pell’s papers that were found in Dr Busby’s house at his death and subsequently ended in the ): Sept 9 1687 Munday Septemb 9 At Dr Gales house by Pauls Schoole met Deane Lloyd, Dr Gale, Doctor Pell, Mr Hooke, Mr Pitt. 50 WAM Chapter Minutes 12 April 1695, where he is incorrectly recorded as Dr Richard Hooke 51 WAM Chapter Minutes 52 WAM Chapter Minutes, 16 January 1683/4 Ordered unanimously the Mr Plukenet bee discharged his Office of Clerk of the Workes for grosse Negligence & manifest ignorance & great suspicion of fraud in the execution there of. But see also Robinson and Adams 1968, 30 December 1679. 53 RCHM 1924 Vol I, Westminster Abbey, Plate 178 54 Robinson and Adams 1968, 13 March 1678/9; RCHM, Plate 164 55 WAM 66915 20 December 1677 : Recd then in full of all demands whatever for & concerning the laying black &white Marble in the Quire & Providing Materials of all kind for the same, ten pounds, which with several former sums received, makes in All one hundred fifty one pounds & fifteene shillings. And I do hereby exonerat Dr Richd Busby, who hath fully paid & dischargd the said summes to mee from all or any molestation, claime, or demand from any person or Persons, whatsoever In witness whereof I have unto subscribe my name & sett my seale. Tho: Plukenett In the presence of John Gee, Tho. Knipe. 56 WAM 66887 gives the date of 1681 from Tufnell’s bill. 57 Gunther 1935, 22 June 1693 58 WAM 44099, 44154 59 Bolton and Henry 1934 Vol XI, Plates 1,III and II show the state of the North Porch, Rose Window and Solomon’s (Galilee) Porch in 1659, Wren’s survey, Dickenson’s design. 60 BL Sloane 4062 fol 229 61 BL Sloane 1009 fol 144, WAM 66914 62 Sheppard 1960, p109 63 WAM Chapter Minutes 12 December 1685 64 Robinson and Adams 1968, 20 February 1689/90 65 WAM Chapter Minutes, 3 June 1693 66 BL Sloane MS 1039 fol 123

Bibliography

For a general History of Westminster School the one with the fullest account of Busby’s time is Sargeaunt, John (1898). Annals of Westminster School. London. Though now somewhat dated, lacking much material since its publication, an invaluable further guide is Barker, G F Russell (1895). Memoir of Richard Busby. London. The works on Westminster Abbey are too numerous to mention, however the Wren Society and the RCHM volumes listed below have perhaps the fullest account of the work during Busby’s time.

Bolton,A and Henry, H D (Eds.) (1934) The Wren Society Vol XI. Oxford Bray (Ed.), William (1852). Diaries of John Evelyn. London. Cranston, Maurice (1957). John Locke, A Biography. London. De Beer (Ed.), Esmond Samuel (1979). The Correspondence of John Locke. Oxford. Dickinson, Henry Winram (1970). Sir , Diplomat and inventor 1625-1695. Cambridge. Gunther, Robert William Theodore (1920-45) Early Science in Oxford. Oxford. Henry, Matthew (1712). An Account of the Life and Death of Mr Philip Henry. London. Hiscock, Walter George (1960). Henry Aldrich of Christ Church. Oxford. Nakajima, Hideto (1994), Robert Hooke’s Family and His Youth, Some New Evidence, Notes Rec R Soc. 48(1),London. Pope, Alexander (1742). : Book IV. London. Robinson, Henry W. and W Adams, Walter (Eds.) (1968). The Diary of Robert Hooke. London. Rostenberg, Leona (1989). The Library of Robert Hooke. California. Royal Commission on Historical Monuments(1924). Vol I, Westminster Abbey. London Sheppard (Ed.), Francis Henry Wollaston (1960). Survey of London. London. South, Dr Robert (1717). Twelve Sermons and Discourses on Several Subjects and Occasions. London. Sprat, Thomas (1667). The History of the Royal Society of London . London.

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Steele, Richard (1714). The Lover. London. Stubbe, Henry (1659). Sundry Things from Severall Hands Concerning the University of Oxford. London. Toomer, Gerald James (1996). Easterne Wisedome and Learning. Oxford. Walker, William(1655). A treatise of English Particles. London. Waller, Richard (1667). The Posthumous Works of Robert Hooke. London. Wetenhall, Edward (1678). Of the Gift and Duty of Singing to God. Dublin. Wheatley (Ed.), Henry B. (1928). The Diary of Samuel Pepys. London. Winn, James Anderson (1987). and His World. Yale. Wren, Christopher (son of Sir Chr Wren) (1750). Parentalia, or Memoirs of the Family of Wrens. London.

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