Key Information
Type of entity
Person
Name
Langham, Sir John
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description
Dates of existence
20 April 1584 – 16 May 1671
History
Governor of the school, 1637 - 1671. John Langham began his career as an apprentice to Sir Richard Napier, a merchant who traded in Turkey. Langham later used this experience of trading in the Mediterranean to get jobs with the Levant Company and East India Company. Langham became prominent and wealthy working for these companies. In 1639 he bought Cotsbrooke Manor in Northamptonshire. Following the outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642, Langham was imprisoned in the Tower of London for expressing opposition to the New Model Army. During the Commonwealth, he raised funds for a Royalist conspiracy. After Cromwell's death, Langham helped pave the way for Charles II's restoration to the throne: Langham was among the group who negotiated the King's return to power, which was set out in the Declaration of Breda. Of the £50,000 presented to Charles II at the end of his exile, Langham contributed £5,310. Langham then raised a further £10,000 to pay off the Navy. He was knighted on 16 May 1660 by Charles II in the Hague, just before the Charles' return to England. Later in 1660 Langham was elected the member of parliament for Southwark. He died at the age of 87, exactly eleven years to the day after he was knighted.