Richard Busby
| Richard Busby | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
22 September 1606 Lutton, Lincolnshire |
| Died | 6 April 1695 (aged 88) Westminster |
| Education |
Westminster School Christ Church, Oxford |
| Church | Church of England |
| Title | Head Master of Westminster School |
The Rev. DrRichard Busby (/ˈbʌzbi/; 1606–1695) was an English Anglican priest who served as head master of Westminster School for more than fifty-five years. Among the more illustrious of his pupils were Christopher Wren, Robert Hooke, Robert South, John Dryden, John Locke, Matthew Prior, Thomas Millington and Francis Atterbury.
He was born at Lutton in Lincolnshire, and educated at Westminster, where he first showed his academic promise by gaining a King's Scholarship. From Westminster, Busby duly proceeded to Christ Church, Oxford, graduating in 1628. In his thirty-third year he had already become renowned for the obstinate zeal with which he supported the falling dynasty of the Stuarts, and was rewarded for his services with the prebend and rectory of Cudworth, with the chapel of Knowle annexed, in Somerset.
Next year (1638) he became headmaster of Westminster, where his reputation as a teacher was soon established. Dr Busby prayed publicly for King Charles I on the morning of his execution nearby, but remained in office throughout the political changes of the Commonwealth and the Restoration. Despite his unapologetic royalism, a popular anecdote held that one day the school was visited by Charles II and Busby refused to doff his hat to the king, explaining that if the boys saw him doing so, it might lead them to believe there was "a greater man on earth than himself."
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