Richard Wightwick (c. 1547–1629) was a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

man, co-founder of

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named after ...

. His name is also spelt Wyghtwicke. Wightwick was educated at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

, where he graduated BA on 2 July 1580, MA on 4 July 1583, and

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology ...

on 31 May 1593."Wightwicke, Richard (Wyghtwicke)" in '' Alumni Oxonienses (1500–1714)'', volume 2, 1892
Widdis-Wilshman
british-history.ac.uk, accessed 22 February 2023 In 1595, Wightwick was appointed as rector of Albury, Oxfordshire, and in 1607 as rector of

East Ilsley East Ilsley is a village and civil parish in the Berkshire Downs in West Berkshire, north of Newbury. The village is centred immediately east of the A34 dual carriageway which passes the length of the village from north to south. It has the vast ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

. In 1610,

Thomas Tesdale Thomas Tesdale (1547–1610) was an English maltster, benefactor of the town of Abingdon in the English county of Berkshire (now Oxfordshire) and the primary founding benefactor of Pembroke College, Oxford. Life and career Thomas was born in ...

on his death gave £5,000 for six scholarships and seven fellowships at Balliol College for the benefit of men from

Abingdon School Abingdon School is a day and boarding independent school for boys in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. The twentieth oldest independent British school, it celebrated its 750th anniversary in 2006. The school was described as "highly ...

. In 1623, Wightwick added to this fund, and their money was used for the conversion of

Broadgates Hall Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named after ...

into Pembroke College."Richard Wightwick"

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

, www.npg.org.uk, accessed 22 February 2023 Broadgates Hall had been an

academic hall Academic Hall was the original main building of the University of Missouri. It was dedicated in 1843 and destroyed by fire in 1892. Academic Hall's six Ionic columns, today known as The Columns, stand on Francis Quadrangle as the most recogniz ...

for law students.

King James I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

signed

letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...

to create the college in 1624, and it was named for

William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (8 April 158010 April 1630) , of Wilton House in Wiltshire, was an English nobleman, politician and courtier. He served as Chancellor of the University of Oxford and together with King James I founded Pem ...

, Chancellor of the university. Wightwick died in 1629. Men related to Wightwick, such as William Adams (1706–1789) were thereafter given preferential admission to Pembroke College, as ''founder's kin''.H. R. H. Southam, "Lord Clive and the Rev. Dr. Williams Adams of Shrewsbury", ''Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society'', 4th Series, vol. VII, part 1, 1918–19
pp. 4–15
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Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wightwick, Richard 1540s births 1629 deaths 16th-century English Anglican priests 17th-century English Anglican priests Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Founders of colleges of the University of Oxford People associated with Pembroke College, Oxford