List of former pupils of Westminster School

The following people were educated at Westminster School, and are sometimes listed with OW (Old Westminster) after their name (collectively, OWW) There are over 900 Old Westminsters listed in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography so these are necessarily a small sample:

All persons are British unless otherwise stated.

15th century

• John Hygdon (c. 1472 – 1532), first dean of Cardinal College /Christ Church, Oxford

16th century

• Nicholas Udall (1504–1556), playwright
• Richard Hakluyt (c. 1552 – 1616), travel writer
• William Alabaster (1567–1640), poet
• Robert Bruce Cotton (1570–1631), antiquarian
• Ben Jonson (1573–1637), poet and dramatist
• Arthur Dee (1579–1651), physician
• Richard Corbet (1582–1635), poet
• Robert Herrick (1591–1674), poet
• Charles Chauncy (1592–1672), President of Harvard 1654 – 72
• Henry King (1592–1669), poet
• George Herbert (1593–1633), public orator and poet

17th century

• Jasper Mayne (1604–1672), dramatist
• Thomas Randolph (1605–1635), poet and dramatist
• Abraham Cowley (1618–1667), poet
• Richard Lower (1631–1691), pioneering physician
• John Dryden (1631–1700), poet and playwright
• John Locke (1632–1704), philosopher
• Sir Christopher Wren (1632–1723), architect, scientist and co-founder of the Royal Society
• Robert Hooke (1635–1703), scientist and co-founder of the Royal Society
• Thomas Gale (c. 1636 – 1702), classical scholar and antiquarian
• Henry Aldrich 1647 – 1710), philosopher
• George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys of Wem (1648–1689), Lord Chief Justice of the Bloody Assize, Lord Chancellor (also ed. by Thomas Chaloner at Shrewsbury and attended St Paul's)^[1]
• Humphrey Prideaux (1648–1724), Dean of Norwich
• Lancelot Blackburne (1658–1743), Archbishop of York
• Henry Purcell (1659–1695), composer
• Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax (1661–1715), creator of the Bank of England
• James Hamilton, 6th Earl of Abercorn (1661–1734), Privy Counsellor
• William King (1663–1712), poet
• Matthew Prior (1664–1771), poet
• Nicholas Rowe (1674–1718), Poet Laureate 1715
• William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath (1684–1764), Cabinet Minister
• John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville (1690–1763), statesman and Cabinet Minister
• Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1693–1768), First Lord of the Treasury 1754 – 1756, Prime Minister
• James Bramston (1694–1744), satirist
• Henry Pelham (1696–1754), First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer 1743 – 1754, Prime Minister
• John, Lord Hervey,(1696–1743), statesman and writer
• John Dyer (1699–1748), poet

18th century

• Sir Thomas Clarke, Master of the Rolls
• Charles Wesley (1707–1788), Methodist preacher and writer of over 6,000 hymns
• William Beckford (1709–1770), politician, twice Lord Mayor of London
• John Cleland (1709–1789), author of the first erotic novel
• Sir John Eardley Wilmot (1709-1792), Chief Justice of the Common Pleas
• Robert Hay Drummond (1711-1776), Archbishop of York
• James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave (1715–1763), First Lord of the Treasury, Prime Minister for five days in 1757
• Francis Lewis (1713–1803), signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence
• General Thomas Gage (1721–1787), C in C North America, Governor of Massachusetts 1774
• John Burgoyne (1723–1792), Lieutenant-General who surrendered British Army at Saratoga
• Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe (1726–1799), Admiral of the Fleet
• Frederick Hamilton (1728–1811), deacon
• Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham (1730–1782), Prime Minister
• William Cowper (1731–1800), poet and hymnodist
• Henry Constantine Jennings (1731–1819), collector
• Charles Churchill, George Colman the Elder, Bonnell Thornton and Robert Lloyd (1731–1764, 1732–1794, 1725–1768, and 1733–1764), satirists and poets; founders of the satirists' Nonsense Club
• Warren Hastings (1732–1818), impeached Governor-General of Bengal
• Nevil Maskelyne (1732–1811), Astronomer Royal
• Richard Cumberland (1732–1811), dramatist
• Augustus Henry Fitzroy, 3rd Duke of Grafton (1735–1811), Prime Minister
• Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond (1735–1806), reforming politician
• John Horne Tooke (1736–1812), politician and philologist
• Edward Gibbon, FRS (1737–1794), historian
• William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland (1738–1809), Prime Minister
• Arthur Middleton (1742–1787), signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence
• Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (1746–1825), ADC to Washington 1777, defeated by Jefferson in 1804 in contest for Presidency
• Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832), philosopher, lawyer and eccentric
• Archibald James Edward Stewart, 1st Baron Douglas of Douglas (1748–1827), Winner of the Douglas Cause. MP and Lord Lieutenant of Forfarshire. [1]
• Henry William Bunbury (1750–1811), caricaturist
• Thomas Pinckney (1750–1828), American ambassador to Britain
• James Bland Burgess (1752-1824), English dramatist and playwright
• Richard Burke Jr. (1758-1794), Member of Parliament
• Richard Bingham, Earl of Lucan (1764–1839), Member of Parliament
• Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin (1766–1841), ambassador to Constantinople, bringer of parthenon marbles to Britain
• Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey (1768–1854), cavalry and horse artillery officer at Waterloo, where he lost a leg
• Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Baronet (1770–1844), Radical parliamentarian and parliamentary reformer
• Robert Southey (1774–1843), Poet Laureate 1813
• Matthew Gregory Lewis (1775–1818), dramatist
• Benjamin Hall (1778–1817), Welsh industrialist, father of 1st Baron Llanover (below).
• Henry Fynes Clinton (1781–1852), scholar
• John Hobhouse, 1st Baron Broughton (1786–1869), companion and ally of Byron
• FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855), lost his right arm at Waterloo, C-in-C in the Crimea
• William Sellon (died 1790), Deacon
• Sir James Graham (1792–1861), politician
• John Russell, 1st Earl Russell (1792–1878), Prime Minister
• William Mure (1799–1860), scholar and politician

19th century

• John Nelson Darby (1800–1882), Irish clergyman
• Thomas Henry Lister (1800–1842), novelist and first Registrar General
• Benjamin Hall, 1st Baron Llanover (1802–1867), Commissioner of Works and Public Buildings responsible for, amongst others, the current Palace of Westminster, likely to have given his name to Big Ben
• Zerah Colburn (1804–1840), Canadian child mathematics prodigy
• William Rowan Hamilton (1805–1865), scientist
• Sir Robert Joseph Phillimore (1810–1885), Judge of the Arches
• Gilbert Abbott à Beckett (1811–1856), writer
• Sir Charles Dilke, 1st Baronet (1811–1869) reformer, instigator of the Great Exhibition
• Henry Mayhew (1812–1887), reforming and satirical journalist ; chronicler of London's poor and founder of Punch
• Sir George Webbe Dasent (1817–1896), author
• George Henty (1832–1902), author of more than 80 popular books for boys
• Sir Edward Poynter (1836–1919), painter
• Sir Charles Dilke, 2nd Baronet (1843–1911), Liberal statesman
• Herbert Rawson (1852 - 1924), England international footballer
• Norman Bailey (1857 - 1923), England international footballer
• Sir Charles Brickdale (1857 - 1944), Chief Registrar of HM Land Registry
• Sir Guy Francis Laking (1875–1919), art historian and Keeper of the London Museum
• Sir K. A. C. Creswell (1879–1974), architectural historian specialising in Egyptian Islamic architecture
• A. A. Milne (1882–1956), author and journalist
• Hussein Ala (1882-1964), Prime Minister of Iran
• Adrian Stephen (1883–1948), Bloomsbury psychoanalyst
• Henry Tizard (1885–1959), scientist and inventor
• Harry St. John Philby (1885-1960), Arabist, explorer, author, agent
• Gustav Hamel (1889–1914), pioneer aviator
• Sir Adrian Boult (1889–1984), conductor
• Edgar Adrian (1889–1977), scientist and Nobel Prizewinner
• Jack Hulbert (1892–1978), actor
• Oliver Lyttelton, 1st Viscount Chandos (1893–1972), Cabinet Minister during World War II, chaiman of the National Theatre Board
• Fred Melville (1882-1940), philatelist

20th century

• R.A. Bevan (1901-1974), media pioneer
• Gregory Dix (1902–1952), liturgical scholar
• Patrick Hamilton (1904–1962), novelist and playwright
• Sir John Gielgud (1904–2000), actor and director
• Sir John Aitken (1910–1985), Conservative newspaper owner
• H. A. R. "Kim" Philby (1912–1988), agent who defected to USSR 1963
• Professor Sir Richard Doll, CH FRS (1912–2005), epidemiologist
• Sir Richard Stone (1913–1991), Nobel prizewinner
• Angus Wilson (1913–1991), novelist
• Norman Parkinson (1913–1990), photographer
• Sir William Deakin (1913–2005), historian and literary assistant to Winston Churchill
• John Freeman (born 1915), Labour politician, broadcaster, diplomat and television chairman
• Sir Andrew Huxley FRS (born 1917), scientist
• Cecil Gould (1918–1994), art historian
• Brian Urquhart (born 1919) UN undersecretary-general and pioneer of peacekeeping
• Sir Peter Ustinov (1921–2004), actor, writer and director
• Rudolf von Ribbentrop (born 1921), German Waffen-SS officer and son of Nazi Foreign Minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop
• Michael Flanders and Donald Swann (1922–1975 and 1923–1994), performers, writers and musicians
• Neville Sandelson (1923–2002), founder member of the SDP
• Michael Havers (1923–1992), lord chancellor
• Richard Wollheim (1923–2003), philosopher
• Michael Hamburger (1924–2007), literary critic
• Colin Turnbull (1924–1994), anthropologist
• Tony Benn (born 1925), politician
• Peter Brook (born 1925), theatre director
• Tristram Cary (born 1925), composer
• Anthony Sampson (1926–2004) , author, founder member of the SDP
• Edward Enfield (born 1929), broadcaster
• Sir Crispin Tickell (born 1930), environmentalist, diplomat and academic
• Nigel, Lord Lawson (born 1932), former Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer
• Anthony Howard (born 1934), journalist
• Sir Roger Norrington (born 1934), musician
• Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware), (born 1934), theologian
• Simon Gray (1936-2008), playwright
• William Cookson (1939–2004), literary critic
• Julian, Lord Hunt,(born 1942), climate change authority and Labour peer
• Peter Bottomley (born 1944), Conservative politician
• Peter Asher and Gordon Waller (born 1944 and 1945), musicians
• William, Baron Bach (born 1946), Labour politician
• Andrew, Lord Lloyd-Webber (born 1948), musician and producer
• Martin Amis (born 1949), novelist
• Michael Attenborough (born 1950), theatre director
• Tim Sebastian (born 1952) , television correspondent and interviewer
• Stephen Poliakoff (born 1952), playwright
• Robbie Fields (born 1952), record producer
• Nigel Planer (born 1953), novelist and actor
• Chris Huhne (born 1954), Liberal Democrat politician
• Adam Mars-Jones (born 1954), novelist and critic
• James Robbins (born 1955), diplomatic correspondent
• Tim Gardam (born 1955), journalist and educator, former director of Channel 4
• Andrew Graham-Dixon (born 1956), broadcaster and art historian
• Dominic Grieve (born 1956), shadow Attorney-General
• Dominic Lawson (born 1956), journalist
• Shane McGowan (born 1957), musician
• James Lasdun (born 1957), poet and novelist
• Thomas Dolby (born 1958), musician
• Nigella Lawson (born 1960), broadcaster
• Edward St Aubyn (born 1960), author
• Tom Holt (born 1960), novelist
• Timothy Winter (born 1960), islamic scholar
• Michael Reiss (born 1960), anglican bioethicist
• George Benjamin (born 1960), composer
• David Heyman (born 1961), film producer
• Imogen Stubbs (born 1961), actress
• Matt Frei (born 1963), foreign correspondent
• Ian Bostridge (born 1964), tenor
• Lucasta Miller (born 1966), literary journalist
• Helena Bonham Carter (born 1966), actress
• Noreena Hertz (born 1967), economist and author
• Gavin Rossdale (born 1967), musician and actor
• Julian Anderson (born 1967), composer
• Nick Clegg (born 1967), Liberal Democrat leader
• Alexander Williams (born 1967), artist and animator
• Sacha Gervasi (born 1967), director
• Richard Harris (born 1968), composer and pianist
• Ruth Kelly MP (born 1968), former Education Secretary
• Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish (born 1968 and 1969), TV performers and journalists
• Marcel Theroux (born 1969), novelist
• Louis Theroux (born 1970), broadcaster
• Tobias Hill (born 1970), poet and novelist
• Dido Armstrong (born 1971), musician under the name of "Dido"
• Martha Lane Fox (born 1973), dot.com entrepreneur
• James Reynolds (born 1974), BBC Beijing Correspondent
• Conrad Shawcross (born 1977), artist
• Christian Coulson (born 1978), actor
• Pinny Grylls (born 1978), filmmaker
• Benjamin Yeoh (born 1978), playwright
• James Brandon (born 1980), journalist
• Clemency Burton (born 1981),writer and actress
• Alice Eve (born 1982), actress
• Mica Penniman (born 1983), musician under the name "Mika"
• Max Vergara Poeti (born 1983), novelist and essayist

Footnotes