St. John's College

in 1540 during the dissolution of the monasteries. The grant also included half of the grove of Durham College, which had likewise been suppressed and whose buildings had become Trinity College. Initially the new St John's College was rather small and not well endowed financially. During the reign of Elizabeth I the fellows lectured in rhetoric, Greek, and dialectic, but not directly in theology. However, St John's initially had a strong focus on the creation of a proficient and educated priesthood.
White was Master of the Merchant Taylors' Company, and established a number of educational foundations, including the Merchant Taylors' School; although the college was closely linked to such institutions for many centuries, it became a more open society in the later 19th century. (Closed scholarships for students from the Merchant Taylors' School, however, persisted until the late 20th century. As well as these, scholarships existed for students from Christ's Hospital, two for Coventry School, two for Bristol Grammar …