Life

Holyoake was probably born in Warwickshire

Warwickshire

Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...

 in 1657, the son of Thomas Holyoake

Thomas Holyoake

Thomas Holyoake was an English royalist soldier, physician, clergyman and lexicographer.-Life:He was the only son of Francis Holyoake and Judith. Born at Stoneythorpe, Warwickshire, he attended Coventry grammar school; entered Queen’s College, Oxford, in Michaelmas term 1632 Thomas Holyoake...

 and Anne his wife, and the grandson of Francis Holyoake

Francis Holyoake

Francis Holyoake was a lexicographer, born at Nether Whitacre, Warwickshire, in 1567.About 1582 he studied as a commoner at Queen’s College, Oxford, though it does not appear that he took a degree. Afterwards he taught school, first at Oxford, and then in Warwickshire...

. He was elected to a choristership

Choir

A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...

 at Magdalen College, Oxford

Magdalen College, Oxford

Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...

, which he resigned in 1676, having matriculated from that college on 12 March 1674. He became clerk and sub-librarian in 1676, appointments which he held until 1681. On 22 Oct. 1678 he graduated B.A.

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

, proceeded M.A.

Master of Arts (postgraduate)

A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 on 4 July 1681, and was chaplain of his college from 1681 until 1690.

In 1687 he was elected headmaster of Rugby School. Despite the smallness of his salary and other disadvantages, he raised the school from insignificance, and was the first to engage an assistant master. He seems, however, to have unfortunately misunderstood the character of one of his best-known pupils, Edward Cave

Edward Cave

Edward Cave was an English printer, editor and publisher. In The Gentleman's Magazine he created the first general-interest "magazine" in the modern sense....

, whom he treated with undeserved severity, and eventually drove from the school. Cave, however, inserted a sympathetic obituary in the Gentleman’s Magazine.

Holyoake was instituted to the rectory of Bourton-upon-Dunsmore on 30 June 1698, to that of Bilton

Bilton, Warwickshire

Bilton is an area of Rugby in Warwickshire and a ward of the Borough of Rugby. It comprises much of the western half of the town.Historically a village in its own right , Bilton's name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon Beolatun , and it was mentioned in the Domesday Book as both Beltone and...

 on 31 Aug. 1705, and to that of Harborough Magna

Harborough Magna

Harborough Magna is a village and parish in Warwickshire, England.Along with the adjoining hamlet of Harborough Parva and nearby Cathiron, the parish has a population of 461 ....

, all in Warwickshire

Warwickshire

Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...

, on 9 Nov. 1712. In 1700 he gave £20 for Magdalen College Library. He died unmarried at Rugby on 10 March 1730–1731, and was buried in St. Mary’s Church, Warwick

Warwick

Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England. The town lies upon the River Avon, south of Coventry and just west of Leamington Spa and Whitnash with which it is conjoined. As of the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 23,350...

, where may be seen a quaint Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

inscription written by himself, which he directed to be engraved to his own memory as well as to that of his father and grandfather.

Holyoake’s establishment at Rugby was under the domestic management of his cousin Judith Holyoake, to whom he left a legacy on the express ground of her having been ‘very serviceable and seemingly kind’ to the boys. He bequeathed £30 to the daughter of Widow Harris, ‘his tripe-woman;’ the interest of £200 to the poor of Rugby after the death of his cousin, Elizabeth Holyoake; and all his books (since sold), together with the portraits of his father and grandfather (since lost), to Rugby School.