Peter Gunning was born in Kent and matriculated at Clare College, Cambridge in 1629, graduating in 1633. Gunning remained at Clare until he was ejected by parliamentary commissioners in 1644 due to the royalist sympathies manifested in his preaching. He then moved to be with the royal court in Oxford, where he stayed as chaplain of New College until the royalist surrender. For ten years he served as a tutor and chaplain in the households of various royalist nobles, before commencing preaching to a congregation with royalist sympathies at the chapel of Exeter House on the Strand.

John Carey became a fellow-commoner of St John's in 1624, and was styled Viscount Rochford from 1628, and Baron Hunsdon from 1640. He was Colonel of a regiment of foot in the Royalist army, but was accused of High Treason in 1644. He was also briefly Speaker of the House of Lords in 1647. On his death both the Earldom of Dover and the Viscountcy of Rochford became extinct.

Thomas Bendish matriculated from St John's in 1624, before being admitted to the Middle Temple in 1626. Owing to his support for the King on the outbreak of the Civil Wars, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London and his estates sequestered. On his release he was fined and banished from his native Essex, before experiencing an upturn in his career in 1647, when he was appointed Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. On his arrival in Istanbul his predecessor refused to relinquish his position and had to be forcibly ejected.

Samuel Howlett gained his BA from St John's in 1663/4 and his MA in 1667. He was elected to a Fellowship in 1664, although this ceased in 1671, possibly due to his death.

Howlett's gift to the Library

The Book of Benefactors records that Howlet left around eighty volumes to St John's in Italian, French, Spanish and German. Only thirty or so of these are still identifiable, most of which are French or Italian volumes on language and history. None of the German works mentioned are now identifiable in the Old Library.

Provenance markings

John Hacket studied at Trinity, and became the household chaplain of John Williams after the latter was made Lord Keeper. Williams was to remain his patron and friend. Hacket was made chaplain to James I, after the King visited Cambridge to see Hacket's play Loyola, written as part of the University's entertainment for the Spanish ambassador on a previous visit.

Robert Metcalfe was a native of Beverley in Yorkshire. He graduated from St John's in 1605, gained his MA in 1606, and subsequently become a Fellow. In 1616 he was elected preacher at St John's, and later became vicar of Burwell in Cambridgeshire. He was appointed Regius Professor of Hebrew, and became college lecturer in Hebrew at Trinity in 1646, after he had migrated there the previous year. Leading a fairly solitary life, he was able to leave numerous charitable bequests, particularly with regard to education and the poor, in both his native town and Cambridge.

John Williams, Bishop of Lincoln, and later Archbishop of York, is one of the key figures in the Library's history, having largely financed the building of what is now the Old Library. Born in Aberconwy he attended school in Ruthin before graduating from St John's in 1601, and taking his MA in 1605. He entered the clergy and began to rise through the ranks of ecclesiastical preferment, attracting the notice of King James. In 1620 he gained the position of Dean of Westminster, which provided him with a base in London close to the court and political power.

Thomas Dawes was the eldest son of Sir Abraham Dawes, of Roehampton. Sir Abraham was a Farmer of the Customs, and one of the wealthiest men of his age. He died around 1640. Thomas married Judith, daughter of Sir Cuthbert Hacket, Lord Mayor of London. He appears to have been an alumnus of St John’s, and was perhaps a fellow-commoner. He was knighted at Whitehall in December 1639, and served as Gentleman-in Ordinary to King Charles’s Bedchamber. During the Civil Wars the Dawes family appears to have sent money to the exiled Royal family, and for a time their estates were sequestered.

Sir John Lambe studied at St John's, graduating in 1587. He then became a lawyer in the diocesan courts of Peterborough, where he displayed strong anti-puritan sympathies. He later became Chancellor of Peterborough Diocese, leading prosecutions against Northamptonshire puritans, found favour with Archbishop Laud, and became Chancellor to Queen Henrietta Maria. At the outbreak of the Civil War many of his verdicts were overturned by Parliament, and he was fined, before fleeing to royalist Oxford. He died on his return to London in 1646.

Richard Holdsworth gained his BA at St John's in 1610, before being elected a Fellow in 1613. He was ordained at Peterborough in 1617, the same year in which he was incorporated MA at Oxford. He was later to become a University preacher and professor of divinity at Gresham College. Holdsworth's main vocations were as a tutor and preacher. As the former he followed a fairly novel curriculum, and amassed one of the largest private libraries of the time. As the latter he became very well-known in London, and was president of Sion College.