Holdisworth (Holdsworth, Houldsworth, Oldsworth), Richard 1590-1649 UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Richard Holdsworth gained his BA at St John's in 1610, before being elected a Fellow in 1613. He was ordained at Peterborough in 1617, the same year in which he was incorporated MA at Oxford. He was later to become a University preacher and professor of divinity at Gresham College. Holdsworth's main vocations were as a tutor and preacher. As the former he followed a fairly novel curriculum, and amassed one of the largest private libraries of the time. As the latter he became very well-known in London, and was president of Sion College. When the mastership of St John's fell vacant Holdsworth managed to gain the support of most of the governing body, but was denied the position by the King, who preferred a high church candidate. His disappointment was short-lived as he became archdeacon of Huntingdon soon after, and four years later was elected to the mastership of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. During the crises of the 1640s Holdsworth was forced to choose between Parliament and the King, while holding the post of vice-chancellor at Cambridge. He plumped for the latter, and after preaching a sermon before the King on his final visit to Cambridge, was summoned to explain himself before the House of Commons. Later, when elected Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity, he spent a short period in the Tower. He was never to return to Cambridge, and died at home in London.

http://www.apuritansmind.com/WCF/HoldisworthLateSchismaticPetition.htm

Richard Holdsworth (or Houldsworth, Oldsworth) (1590, Newcastle-on-Tyne – 22 August 1649) was an English academic theologian, and Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge from 1637 to 1643. Although Emmanuel was a Puritan stronghold, Holdsworth, who in religion agreed, in the political sphere resisted Parliamentary interference, and showed Royalist sympathies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Holdsworth

Emmanuel College (1904) By Evelyn Shirley Shuckburgh (see chapter 5, page 87)
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The General Biographical Dictionary: Containing an Historical and Critical Account of the Lives and Writings of the Most Eminent Persons in Every Nation; Particularly the British and Irish; From the Earliest Accounts to the Present Time, Volume 18 (1814) edited by Alexander Chalmers (see page 67)
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Dictionary of National Biography, Volume 9 - 1908 (see page 1018)

The Sufferings of the Clergy of the Church of England during the Great Rebellion (1863) By John Walker (see page 73)
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