Old Wykehamists are former pupils of Winchester College, so called in memory of the school's founder, William of Wykeham. He was Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor of England. He used the wealth these positions gave him to establish both the school in 1382 and a university college, New College, Oxford, in 1379; both of them were set up to provide an education for 70 scholars. Winchester College opened in 1394. William of Wykeham provided that up to two pupils a year who could prove they were his descendants could attend the school at its expense; they were known as Consanguineus Fundatoris, "Founder's Kin". Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes records that the tradition ended in 1868, by which time fourteen members of his family had received a free education. At first only a small number of pupils other than scholars were admitted; by the 15th century the school had around 100 pupils in total, nominally the 70 scholars, 16 choirboys and the rest "commoners". Demand for places for commoners was high, and though at first restricted, numbers gradually rose. From the 1860s, ten boarding houses, each for up to sixty pupils, were added, greatly increasing the school's capacity. By 2020, the number of pupils had risen to 690.
The school's traditions include a 600-year-old ceremony in which the Warden, wearing the Founder's Ring, admits each new Scholar; "Illumina", an autumn celebration, in which candles are placed into niches all over the medieval walls around the playing fields; and "Morning Hills", held once a year, when all the school's pupils and teachers climb St Catherine's Hill for a roll call and prayers.
The Ad Portas ("At the Gates") ceremony is held as an honour for distinguished guests and alumni; all members of the school stand in the medieval Chamber Court to hear the speeches. In 2011, nineteen alumni (and six more honoured in their absence), all Fellows of the Royal Society or Fellows of the British Academy, were welcomed Ad Portas, with speeches in Latin and English.
Among the Old Wykehamists listed here are four archbishops, including one of the school's earliest pupils, Henry Chichele; four field marshals; commanders of both Fighter Command and Bomber Command during the Second World War—Hugh Dowding and Charles Portal, respectively; and two Viceroys of India, Archibald Wavell, who is buried at the College, and Frederic Thesiger. The many politicians include six Chancellors of the Exchequer: Henry Addington for the Tory Party; Robert Lowe for the Liberal Party; Stafford Cripps and Hugh Gaitskell for the Labour Party; and Geoffrey Howe and Rishi Sunak for the Conservative Party. Of these, Addington and Sunak went on to become Prime Minister.
The individuals listed are classified by decade or century of birth, with a note of how each distinguished himself. Those who won military medals are listed at the foot of the page; six Old Wykehamists have won Britain's highest military award, the Victoria Cross. Individuals are included here only if they have distinguished themselves at the highest level within their profession or achieved national recognition. Thus, for example, politicians are included only if they are members of the privy council or have a cabinet position; sportspeople, only if they have distinguished themselves in a national competition or represented their country; for soldiers, that they have reached a rank equivalent to major-general, or won a gallantry award; actors, that they have been nominated for the highest honour in the field, such as an Academy or Olivier Award; members of a profession, that they are recognised as distinguished by their profession's leading institution, such as being a fellow of the Royal Society or the Royal Academy of Music. As another example, national recognition in business means being chair or chief executive of a FTSE 100 company.
Fourteenth century
Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Beckington, statesman
Fifteenth century
Thomas Chaundler, playwright and illustrator John Russell, Lord Chancellor, Bishop of Lincoln William Horman, translator William Grocyn, scholar William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Keeper Hugh Inge, Archbishop of Dublin Richard Pace, diplomat Richard Risby, friarWainewright, John. "Richard Risby." Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912.
Sixteenth century
Henry Cole, Roman Catholic priest Nicholas Udall, Headmaster of Eton and playwright Henry Garnet, complicit in the Gunpowder Plot which cites Oliver, G., Biography of Scotch, English and Irish members of the Society of Jesus, 1845. John White, bishop Nicholas Harpsfield, Roman Catholic apologist Richard Reade, Lord Chancellor of Ireland Nicholas Sanders, Roman Catholic priest, missionary and historian Christopher Johnson, physician, headmaster of Winchester and poet (in Latin) Thomas Bilson, bishop Thomas Stephens, Jesuit missionary and linguist John Harmar, Warden of Winchester College, one of the translators of the Authorised Version of the Bible John Owen, Welsh epigrammatist Henry Wotton, author and diplomat Arthur Lake, bishop John Davies, poet Thomas James, librarian Thomas Coryat, travel writer, court jester to James I Henry Marten, Judge of Admiralty Thomas Ryves, lawyer Richard Zouch, judge and politician Edward Nicholas, statesman
Seventeenth century
Nathaniel Fiennes, Roundhead politician Thomas Ken, bishop, non-juror and hymnwriter Francis Turner, bishop and non-juror Thomas Otway, dramatist Thomas Browne, doctor, polymath, scholar, prose stylist Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, politician and author William Somervile, poet Edward Young, poet
Eighteenth century
Robert Lowth, Bishop of London, Hebraist and English grammarian William Whitehead, Poet Laureate William Collins, poet Joseph Warton, literary critic and Headmaster of Winchester William Douglas, 4th Duke of Queensberry, nobleman, and a noted gambler Thomas Warton, Poet Laureate James Eyre, judge Charles Wolfran Cornwall, Speaker of the House of Commons James Woodforde, clergyman and diarist George Isaac Huntingford, Bishop of Hereford and Gloucester Thomas Burgess, author Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, Prime Minister John Hawkins, geologist, traveller, and Fellow of the Royal Society Retrieved 10 June 2020. William Lisle Bowles, poet who revived the sonnet William Howley, Archbishop of Canterbury William Sturges Bourne, Tory politician, Home Secretary Sydney Smith, essayist and satirist Richard Mant, Church of Ireland bishop and writer John Colborne, 1st Baron Seaton, Field Marshal and colonial governor William Buckland, theologian and geologist William Ward, record-scoring cricketer Thomas Arnold, headmaster of Rugby Walter Farquhar Hook, Tractarian vicar of Leeds Thomas Oliphant, musician and lyricist
Nineteenth century
1800–1819 William Page Wood, 1st Baron Hatherley, Lord Chancellor George Moberly, Headmaster of Winchester College, later Bishop of SalisburySabben-Clare, 1981. p. 80 William Sewell, divine and author Christopher Wordsworth, Bishop of Lincoln Thomas Adolphus Trollope, author James Edwards Sewell, Warden of New College, Oxford. Robert Lowe, 1st Viscount Sherbrooke, statesman William George Ward, prominent in the Oxford Movement William Monsell, 1st Baron Emly, Liberal politician Roundell Palmer, 1st Earl of Selborne Arthur Farmer, cricketerAlumni Cantabrigienses, pp. 460–61 Anthony Trollope, novelist
1820–1839
William Grasett Clarke, cricketer and clergyman Matthew Arnold, poet James Freeling, cricketer and clergymanWainewright, 1907. p. 43 Frank Buckland, naturalist Arthur Ridding, cricketer, educator and librarianWainewright, 1907. p. 57 George Ridding, Headmaster of Winchester, later Bishop of Southwell Henry Furneaux, scholar of Tacitus William Tuckwell, Christian socialist clergyman and author of Reminiscences of OxfordTuckwell, W., The Ancient Ways: Winchester 50 Years Ago. Samuel Rawson Gardiner, historian Richard Bickerton Pemell Lyons, 2nd Baron Lyons, 1st Viscount and Earl Lyons, diplomat Philip Lutley Sclater, lawyer, ornithologist (founder of Ibis), zoogeographer, Secretary of the Zoological Society of London for 42 years Ford North, Judge of the High Court of Justice and member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy CouncilWainewright, 1907. p. 98 Ashley Eden, colonial administrator, member of the Council of India Cecil Fiennes, cricketer, descendant of William of Wykeham Philip Reginald Egerton, founder of Bloxham SchoolWainewright, 1907. p. 96 Arthur Faber, headmaster of Malvern College Wingfield Fiennes, cricketer and clergyman, descendant of William of Wykeham
1840–1859
Herbert Stewart, soldierSabben-Clare, 1981. p. 144 Robert Campbell Moberly, theologianWainewright, 1907. p. 151 Samuel Rolles Driver, biblical scholar Thomas Hughes, footballer who won the FA Cup twice in the 1870sWainewright, 1907. p. 192 William Lindsay, England footballer and three times FA Cup winnerWainewright, 1907. p. 158 Leonard Howell, Wanderers and England footballerWainewright, 1907. p. 178 Charles Marriott, cricketer and barristerWainewright, 1907. p. 90 Francis Birley, footballer who won the FA Cup three times in the 1870sWainewright, 1907. p. 191 Theodore Dyke Acland, physician-in-ordinary to Queen VictoriaWainewright, 1907. p. 206 Charles Alfred Cripps, 1st Baron Parmoor, Lord President of the CouncilWainewright, 1907. p. 212 John Bain, England footballer and 1877 FA Cup Finalist John Hewett, Lieutenant Governor of Agra and OudhWainewright, 1907. p. 208 Ponsonby Ogle, writer and journalistWainewright, 1907. p. 240 Montague John Druitt, suspected of being Jack the RipperWainewright, 1907. p. 257 David Samuel Margoliouth, orientalistWainewright, 1907. p. 288 G. E. M. Skues, pioneer of fly fishing with nymphs William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne, Lord ChancellorWainewright, 1907. p. 101 Percival Parr, footballer and barristerWainewright, 1907. p. 289
1860–1869
Francis J. Haverfield, historian of Roman BritainSabben-Clare, 1981. p. 187 Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, Foreign Secretary 1905–16Leach, 1899. p. 510 Arthur Cayley Headlam, Principal of King's College London (1903–16) Bishop of Gloucester (1923–45)Wainewright, 1907. p. 335 Frederic G. Kenyon, classical scholar Robert Laurie Morant, administrator and educatorWainewright, 1907. p. 337 Arthur Cobb, wicket-keeper on early tour of America John Beresford Leathes, physiologist Harold Goodeve Ruggles-Brise, cricketer and soldierWainewright, 1907. p. 619 H. A. L. Fisher, historian, politician Arthur Pearson, newspaper magnate, founder of the Daily ExpressWainewright, 1907. p. 144 Frederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford, Colonial Governor and Viceroy of IndiaWainewright, 1907. p. 399 Claud Schuster, 1st Baron Schuster, Permanent Secretary to the Lord Chancellor 1915–1944Wainewright, 1907. p. 424 General Reginald Byng Stephens, soldier'Stephens, General Sir Reginald Byng', in Who Was Who, 1951–1960 (London: A. & C. Black, 1984 reprint, ) Ernest Makins, soldier, statesman and politicianWainewright, 1907. p. 423
1870–1879
Bernard Granville Baker, soldier, author, military artist Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas, poet and companion of Oscar Wilde Edmund Fellowes, musicologist, clergymanSabben-Clare, 1981. p. 119 Udny Yule, statistician Edmund Backhouse, "The Hermit of Peking" Vyner Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak Retrieved 10 June 2020 Ewart Grogan, explorer and colonist Rupert D'Oyly Carte, Savoy opera producer, hotelier William Sealy Gosset, statistician with Guinness (inventor of Student's t-test) G. H. Hardy, mathematician and mentor of RamanujanSabben-Clare, 1981. pp. 186–187 Robert Lock Graham Irving, schoolmaster, writer and mountaineer