Headmasters

The Headmaster and Usher were appointed by the Dean, the exception being John Pether, appointed by the King himself. The Headmaster had to be fluent in both Greek and Latin (it has been suggested that the reason that an ex-master of the Almonry School was not appointed to this post is that it would have been unlikely that Almonry School masters were fluent in Greek), 'of good character and pious life', and with good teaching skills. The Usher need not know Greek. These conditions, of course, no longer apply. The headmaster's salary was £20, very high for the time, and the Usher's £10, which ranked with most headmasters' wages!

The ultimate aim of the school was to educate the pupils so that they might further their education at university, having left school at fifteen, and it is a tribute to the school that, only two years after its foundation, twelve of them did so.
1541    John Pether, M.A.
1555    Roger Colbourne, M.A.
1557    Thomas Bradshaw, M.A.
1585    Henry Maye, M.A.
1589    Henry Bright, M.A.
1627    Henry Moule, B.A.
1644    John Toy, M.A.
1646    John Hardinge, D.D.
1653    Thomas Barfoote, M.A.
1660    John Toy, M.A.
1664    Thomas Stephens, M.A.
1667    John Wright, M.A.
1695    Benjamin Slater, M.A.
1700    John Medens, M.A.
1702    William Betterley, M.A.
1733    Thomas Miles, M.A.
1768    Thomas Goodinge, D.C.L.
1776    John Bennett, B.A.
1777    John Griffin, M.A.
1814    William Porter, M.A.
1820    Allen Wheeler, B.D.
1837    Octavius Fox, M.A.
1852    Stephen Denning, M.A.
1856    William Helm, B.A.
1860    Maurice Day, M.A.
1879    William Bolland, M.A.
1896    William Chappel, M.A.
1919    Cuthbert Creighton, M.A.
1936    Longworth Wilding, M.A.
1940    Cuthbert Creighton, M.A.
1942    Ronald Kittermaster, B.A.
1959    David Annett, M.A.
1979    Andrew Milne, M.A.
1983    John Moore, J.P., M.A., Ph.D.
1998    Tim Keyes, M.A.