Robert Masters (1713–1798) was an English clergyman and academic, known as the historian of

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th c ...

Life

Born at Hetherset,

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, he was descended from William Master of

Cirencester Cirencester ( , ; see #Pronunciation, below for more variations) is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire, England. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames. It is the List of ...

. He was admitted to Corpus Christi College in 1731; graduated B.A. in 1734, M.A. in 1738, B.D. in 1746; and was fellow and tutor of the college from 1738 to 1750. On 14 May 1752, he was elected

Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a registered charity. It is based at Burlington House in Pi ...

. He continued to reside in college till he was presented by that society to the rectory of

Landbeach Landbeach is a small fen-edge English village about three miles (5 km) north of Cambridge. The parish covers an area of . History The fen edge north of Cambridge was well populated in Roman times, and the village's situation on a Roman roa ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

, in 1756. Matthias Mawson,

bishop of Ely The Bishop of Ely is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with ...

, collated him to the vicarage of Linton, which he resigned for that of

Waterbeach Waterbeach is a village north of Cambridge on the edge of The Fens, in the South Cambridgeshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. It was designated a "new town" in 2018. History Early periods Waterbeach is on the Car Dyke, a Roman waterway ...

in 1759. This latter benefice he with the bishop's permission resigned in 1784 to his son William, for whom he built a house. Masters was in the commission of the peace for Cambridgeshire, and acted as deputy to William Compton, LL.D., chancellor of the diocese of Ely, who resided abroad. In 1797, he resigned the living of Landbeach in favour of Thomas Cooke Burroughes, senior fellow of

Caius College Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and ...

, who, immediately upon his presentation, married Mary, Masters's second daughter. Masters continued to reside in the parsonage with his son-in-law and daughter until his death on 5 July 1798. He was buried at Landbeach, where a monument was erected to his memory.

Works

His major work is: ''The History of the College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary (commonly called Bene't) in the University of Cambridge, from its foundation to the present time''. It was published in two parts by

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

: the first part appeared in 1753, followed in 1755 by the second part, containing the lives of members of the college and an appendix of documents. An expanded edition by Dr. John Lamb appeared at Cambridge in 1831. Masters's other works are: * ''A List of the Names, Counties, Times of Admission, Degrees, &c., of all that are known to have been Members of Corpus Christi College in Cambridge'' (1749), and subsequently appended to the history of the college. * "Some Remarks on Mr. Walpole's ''Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of King

Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

''", in '' Archaeologia'', vol. 2 (1771), p. 198; also printed separately (London, 1772). * ''Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Thomas Baker, B.D., of St. John's College in Cambridge, from the papers of Dr.

Zachary Grey Zachary Grey (6 May 1688 – 1766) was an English priest, controversialist, and conservative spokesman for the Church of England. He was also an editor, commentator on William Shakespeare, and critic of dissenter historians. Life Grey was th ...

, with a Catalogue of his MS. Collections'' (Cambridge, 1784). * "Account of some Stone Coffins and Skeletons found on making some alterations and repairs in

Cambridge Castle Cambridge Castle, locally also known as Castle Mound, is located in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. Originally built after the Norman conquest of England, Norman conquest to control the strategically important route to the north of England, ...

", in '' Archaeologia'', vol. 8 (1785), p. 63. * "Account of an Antient Painting on Glass", representing the pedigree of the Stewart family, in ''Archæologia'', vol. 8 (1787), pp. 321–5. * ''Catalogue of the Pictures in the Public Library and Colleges in the University of Cambridge''

790 __NOTOC__ Year 790 ( DCCXC) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar, the 790th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 790th year of the 1st millennium, the 90th year of the 8th century, and the ...

* ''A Short Account of the Parish of

, in the Diocese of Ely, by a late Vicar'' (1795), with a sketch of

Denny Abbey Denny Abbey is a former abbey near Waterbeach, about north of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire, England. It is now the Farmland Museum and Denny Abbey. The monastery was inhabited by a succession of three different religious orders. The site is a s ...

; for private circulation. * "Collectanea de

", included in Rev. William Keatinge Clay's ''History of Landbeach'' (1861), printed for the

Cambridge Antiquarian Society The Cambridge Antiquarian Society is a society dedicated to study and preservation of the archaeology, history, and architecture of Cambridgeshire, England. The society was founded in 1840. Its collections are housed in the Haddon Library on Down ...

Family

About 1757, Masters married a granddaughter of one of his predecessors at Landbeach, and daughter of John Cory, rector of

Impington Impington is a village and civil parish about 3 miles north of Cambridge city centre, in the South Cambridgeshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It forms part of the Cambridge built-up area. In 2011 the parish had a populati ...

and Waterbeach. She died on 29 August 1764, leaving a son William, who died rector of Waterbeach in 1794, and two daughters: Anne, married to the Rev. Andrew Sprole; and Mary, wife of the Rev. T. C. Burroughes.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Masters, Robert 1713 births 1798 deaths 18th-century English Anglican priests English antiquarians Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge People from Hethersett People from Waterbeach