John Keate (30 March 1773 – 5 March 1852) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

schoolmaster, and Head Master of

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

. He was born at

Wells Wells most commonly refers to: * Wells, Somerset, a cathedral city in Somerset, England * Well, an excavation or structure created in the ground * Wells (name) Wells may also refer to: Places Canada *Wells, British Columbia England * Wells ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, the son of Prebendary William Keate, rector of Laverton, Somerset, and brother of

Robert Keate Robert Keate FRCS (14 March 1777 – 2 October 1857) was a noted British surgeon, and Serjeant-Surgeon to King William IV and Queen Victoria. Early life He was born in Laverton, Somerset, the fourth son of William Keate, rector of Laverton ...

(1777–1857),

Serjeant-Surgeon The Serjeant Surgeon is the senior surgeon in the Medical Household of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The origin of the post dates back to 1253. Early serjeant surgeons were military surgeons who followed their king ...

King William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...

and

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

, and was admitted to

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

in 1792, winning the Browne Medal in 1793, 1794 and 1795, and the Craven scholarship in 1794, graduating

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

1796,

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

1799,

D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...

('' per literas regias'') 1810. Taking holy orders, he became, about 1797, an assistant master at Eton College. In 1809 he was elected headmaster, having been "Under Master". Although his predecessor had been somewhat relaxed, and the teacher-pupil ratio was extremely low, the discipline of the school was not improved by the harsh measures that he took as headmaster, including large-scale floggings with the

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...

, resulting in mass rebellions by the boys. Following an attempted rebellion, Keate flogged more than 80 boys on a single day, 30 June 1832, an event known as the ''great flogging''. He retired in 1834. Keate was made a canon of the eighth stall of Windsor in 1820. He died at

Hartley Wespall Hartley Wespall is a civil parish in the Basingstoke and Deane district of Hampshire, England. It is near the larger village of Hook, which lies approximately 2.5 miles (4.1 km) south-west from the hamlet. St.Mary Church is flint with a Til ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, of which parish he had been rector since 1824.

References

* *Maxwell Lyte, ''History of Eton College'' (3rd ed., 1899) *Collins, ''Etoniana'' *Harwood, ''Alumni Etonienses'' *''

Annual Register ''The Annual Register'' (originally subtitled "A View of the History, Politicks and Literature of the Year ...") is a long-established reference work, written and published each year, which records and analyses the year's major events, developmen ...

'' (1852) *''

Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term ''magazine'' (from the French ''magazine'' ...

'' (1852) {{DEFAULTSORT:Keate, John 1773 births 1852 deaths Alumni of King's College, Cambridge People from Wells, Somerset Schoolteachers from Somerset Head Masters of Eton College People educated at Eton College Canons of Windsor