Robert Johnson

Robert Johnson (1540 – 1625) was a Church of England cleric and the founder of both Oakham School and Uppingham School. He was the Puritan rector of North Luffenham, Rutland, for 51 years, from 1574 until his death. He was also and Archdeacon of Leicester from 1591 to 1625. Using the income from these and other church posts he held concurrently, he founded free grammar schools in Oakham and Uppingham in 1584, as well as other charitable institutions. He enjoyed the patronage of Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, and William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley. Life and family He was born in Stamford to Maurice and Jane Johnson, one of seven children; his father was Member of Parliament for Stamford. He was orphaned at age eleven. He was educated by his guardian uncle Robert Smith, first at Peterborough Grammar School, then at Cambridge University. He matriculated in 1557, on the eve of Queen Elizabeth’s ascension to the throne. He became a respected Protestant preacher, popular lecturer, and a Cambridge fellow. He became rector of North Luffenham on 15 April 1574, a post he held for over a half a century. Sometime before 1571, he became chaplain for Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, at Bacon’s Elizabethan mansion of Gorhambury. While there, Johnson possibly tutored Nicholas Bacon’s son, the young Francis Bacon, and met Lord Burghly and Queen Elizabeth. Along with Lord Bacon, their patronage launched his career. He became simultaneously prebendary or canon of four Church of England prebends, those of Windsor, Peterborough, Norwich, and Rochester. This collection of endowed benefices made him very wealthy. He founded free grammar schools in Oakham and Uppingham in 1584, as well as other charitable institutions.