Edward Latymer (1557–1627) was a wealthy merchant and official in London. His will established both

Latymer Upper School (Slowly Therefore Surely) , established = , closed = , sister_school = Godolphin and Latymer School , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , head_label = H ...

and

The Latymer School ("He who endures wins") , established = , type = Voluntary aided grammar school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headteacher , head = Maureen Cobbett , r_head_label = , r_head = , chair_lab ...

and is associated with

Godolphin and Latymer School The Godolphin and Latymer School is an independent day school for girls in Hammersmith, West London. The school motto is an ancient Cornish phrase, ''Francha Leale Toge'', which translates as "free and loyal art thou". The school crest inclu ...

Life

Edward was the older son of

William Latymer William Latymer or Latimer (1499–1583) was an English evangelical clergyman, Dean of Peterborough from 1560. He was chaplain to Anne Boleyn, and is best known for his biography of her, the ''Chronickille of Anne Bulleyne''. Life He was the thir ...

, a cleric who later became

Dean of Peterborough The Dean of Peterborough is the head of the chapter at Peterborough Cathedral. On the Dissolution of Peterborough Abbey in 1539 and the abbey-church's refoundation as a cathedral for the new bishop and diocese of Peterborough, care for the abbey ...

. When the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Mary I of England Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...

came to the throne, his father's position became untenable, and he retired to

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

close to the family estates at Freston. This is where Edward was born in 1557. In the next year,

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

came to the throne and William Latymer was restored to his former positions, and became the Treasurer of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

. Edward was educated living in the Deanery at Peterborough. He went to study at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

at the age of fourteen and left in 1575 (there is no record of his graduation). There is a following gap in his records for twenty three years. Latymer was appointed in 1594 as Deputy and Clerk to the Receiver General at the High Court, a position involving collecting monies owed. Over the next 25 years he became a man of wealth from his fees, particularly from complex

inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, Title (property), titles, debts, entitlements, Privilege (law), privileges, rights, and Law of obligations, obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ ...

cases. He purchased the Manor of Butterwick in

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

, though he lived most of his adult life at 'the Signe of the Cocke' in Ramme Alley in the

Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of St Dunstan's in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

. In 1615, he purchased a small property in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

which was a fashionable *country area of the time.

Bequest and death

He never married and did not have children, and made his will in 1625 (but was dated 1624). He gave most of his wealth to the people of Hammersmith and the Parish of

St Dunstan Saint Dunstan (c. 909 – 19 May 988) was an English bishop. He was successively Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, Bishop of Worcester, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised as a saint. His work restored monastic life i ...

's, today

Latymer Upper School (Slowly Therefore Surely) , established = , closed = , sister_school = Godolphin and Latymer School , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , head_label = H ...

, and a less generous bequest for the Parish of Edmonton, today

. This provided, amongst other things, clothing and education for eight poor boys of Edmonton and eight of Fulham (which then included Hammersmith). The clothing, which incorporated a red cross on the left sleeve, was to be distributed twice a year on

Ascension Day The Solemnity of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, also called Ascension Day, Ascension Thursday, or sometimes Holy Thursday, commemorates the Christian belief of the bodily Ascension of Jesus into heaven. It is one of the ecumenical (i.e., shared b ...

and

All Saints' Day All Saints' Day, also known as All Hallows' Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows, the Solemnity of All Saints, and Hallowmas, is a Christian solemnity celebrated in honour of all the saints of the church, whether they are know ...

, and the boys were to learn reading in English and 'God's true religion' at existing petty schools, until the age of thirteen. Separate groups of trustees administered the property on behalf of the boys in the two parishes. The main source of this income was the rental from his property situated at

Pymmes Brook Pymmes Brook is located in North London and named after William Pymme, a local land owner. It is a minor tributary of the River Lea. The brook mostly flows through urban areas and is particularly prone to flooding in its lower reaches. To a ...

on the main road to Scotland, which later became a coaching inn The Bell, and was renamed The Angel in 1780. It was demolished in 1968 through a

compulsory purchase order A compulsory purchase order (CPO; , ) is a legal function in the United Kingdom and Ireland that allows certain bodies to obtain land or property without the consent of the owner. It may be enforced if a proposed development is considered one for p ...

for the widening of the

North Circular Road The North Circular Road (officially the A406 and sometimes known as simply the North Circular) is a ring road around Central London in England. It runs from Chiswick in the west to Woolwich in the east via suburban North London, connecting ...

. Edward died in 1627 and was buried in the south aisle of

St Dunstan-in-the-West The Guild Church of St Dunstan-in-the-West is in Fleet Street in the City of London. It is dedicated to Dunstan, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury. The church is of medieval origin, although the present building, with an octagonal ...

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...

. His relations challenged his will in the

Court of Chancery The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the Common law#History, common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over ...

, resulting in a seven-year delay before the bequests could take effect while the case was fought. Latimer Road, a road in Kensington, and the nearby

tube station The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Und ...

, are both named after Edward Latymer, as are Latymer Road and Latymer Way in Edmonton.

Notes

References

*W. Wheatley, ''Edward Latymer and His Foundations''

External links

British History Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Latymer, Edward 1557 births Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge 1627 deaths 16th-century English businesspeople 17th-century English businesspeople