Thomas Alleyn (died 15 March 1668/1669) was the third Master of the

College of God's Gift The College of God's Gift, often referred to as the Old (Dulwich) College, was a historic charity founded in 1619 by the Elizabethan actor and businessman Edward Alleyn who endowed it with the ancient Manor of Dulwich in south London. In 1857 it ...

Early life

He was born in

Willen Willen is a district of Milton Keynes, England and is also one of the ancient villages of Buckinghamshire to have been included in the designated area of the New City in 1967. At the 2011 Census the population of the district was included in t ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

, the son of John Alleyn, cousin of

Edward Alleyn Edward "Ned" Alleyn (; 1 September 156621 November 1626) was an English actor who was a major figure of the Elizabethan theatre and founder of the College of God's Gift in Dulwich. Early life Alleyn was born on 1 September 1566 in Bishopsga ...

. He remained unmarriedOrmiston, T. L., (1926), ''Dulwich College Register'',page 10, (J J Keliher & Co Ltd: London) thus meeting

's requirements as laid out in the Deed of Foundation of the College of God's Gift in Dulwich, which was soon colloquially referred to as "Dulwich College", that the Master and Warden should always be unmarried and of Alleyn's blood, and surname.Hodges, S, (1981), ''God's Gift: A Living History of Dulwich College'', page 8, (Heinemann: London) He was a legatee in Edward Alleyn's will.

Career

He became Warden on 18 April 1631, after his predecessor, and cousin, Matthias became Master. On Matthias' death he became Master on 9 April 1642. He has been grouped as one of a ''"sad procession of non-entities"'' who, with few exceptions in the period between the Founder's death and when the College was reconstituted in 1857, on becoming Warden or Master, had as their chief object to lead the pleasantest life possible with little regard to furthering Alleyn's directions to provide every poor scholar with adequate preparation for the world.Hodges, S, (1981), ''God's Gift: A Living History of Dulwich College'', page 17, (Heinemann: London) He died on 15 March 1668/1669 and was succeeded in the post by the surgeon

Raph Alleyn Raph Alleyn (died 24 January 1677/8) was a seventeenth-century London surgeon, and the fourth College of God's Gift The College of God's Gift, often referred to as the Old (Dulwich) College, was a historic charity founded in 1619 by the Elizabeth ...

who had served as Warden in the period that Thomas had been Master. Like Matthias before him, Thomas gave a silver bowl to the College, which is still held by the College.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alleyn, Thomas Year of birth missing 1660s deaths Masters of the College of God's Gift