Peter Blundell

Peter Blundell (c. 1520–1601) was a prosperous clothier, trading between Tiverton, Devon, and London. He died in April 1601, never having married and with no known issue.^[1] On his death, he left over £32,000 cash to fellow clothiers and their families, his employees, created several charitable trusts, and gave £2400 to build Blundell's School in Tiverton, to be a free grammar school.^[2]

Portrait of Peter Blundell, property of Blundell's School

Peter Blundell (left), with arms in apex above and merchant's mark in border, modern stained glass window in chapel of Blundell's School

Blundell also left £2000 in his will for the endowment of six scholars from The School in Divinity at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge; arrangements were made for Blundell Scholars to enter Balliol and Sidney Sussex colleges respectively.^[3]

He was buried on 9 May 1601 at St Michael Paternoster Royal in London.

Blundell Park in Cleethorpes, the ground of Grimsby Town Football Club since 1899, is named after Peter Blundell whose money enabled Sidney Sussex College to buy the land in 1616.

Bibliography

• Blundell, Joseph Hight; Hight Blundell (1912). The Blundells of Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire. by subscription of family members.

References

1. "GENUKI/Devon: Tiverton – Name index to "Donations of Peter Blundell (Founder) and Other Benefactors to The Free Grammar School at Tiverton"". Genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
2. Joyce Youings, 'Blundell, Peter (c. 1520–1601)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 10 October 2007
3. Donations of Peter Blundell – Reproduction of Will. 1792. Retrieved 5 October 2014.

External links

• Blundells.org
• Archives.balliol.ox.ac.uk
• world.grimsby-townfc.co.uk