Editing Richard Allestree (section)

==Life==
The son of Robert Allestree, descended from an old [[Derbyshire]] family, he was born at [[Uppington]] in Shropshire. Although [[John Fell (clergyman)|John Fell]] gave his birth date as March 1619, this conflicts with his college records.<ref name=ODNB>{{cite ODNB|first=John|last=Spurr|title=Allestree, Richard (1621/2–1681)|year=2004|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/395|accessdate=2015-10-07|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/395}}</ref> He was educated at the [[King Henry VIII School, Coventry|Free School]],<ref name="Hughes09">{{cite book |last1=Hughes |first1=John Trevor |title=Thomas Willis, 1621-1675: his life and work |date=2009 |publisher=Rimes House |location=Oxford |isbn=9781874317036 |page=34 |edition=2nd}}</ref> [[Coventry]], and entered [[Christ Church, Oxford]], under [[Richard Busby]]. He entered as a commoner in 1636, matriculating as a student on 17 February 1637 aged fifteen,<ref name=ODNB/> and took the degree of B.A. in 1640 and that of M.A. in 1643.

In 1642 he joined the king's army, under Sir [[John Byron, 1st Baron Byron|John Byron]]. When the parliamentary forces arrived in [[Oxford]], he hid the Christ Church valuables, and the soldiers found nothing in the treasury "except a single [[groat (coin)|groat]] and a halter at the bottom of a large iron chest". Allestree escaped severe punishment only because the army hastily retreated from the town. He was present at the [[Battle of Edgehill]] in October 1642, after which, while hurrying to Oxford to prepare for the king's visit to Christ Church, he was captured by a troop of [[William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele|Lord Say]]'s soldiers from Broughton House, Cambridge, and soon afterwards set free on the surrender of the place to the king's forces. In 1643 he was again on military service, performing "all duties of a common soldier" and  "frequently holding his [[musket]] in one hand and his book in the other". At the close of the [[English Civil War]], he returned to his studies, took [[holy orders]], was made [[Censor (Christ Church, Oxford)|Censor]] and became a "noted tutor".

He remained an ardent royalist. He voted for the university decree against the Covenant, and, refusing submission to the [[Parliamentary visitation of the University of Oxford|parliamentary visitors]] in 1648, he was expelled. He found a retreat as chaplain in the house of [[Francis Newport, 1st Earl of Bradford|Francis Newport]], later Viscount Newport, in whose service he travelled to France. On his return he joined two of his friends, [[John Dolben]] and [[John Fell (clergyman)|John Fell]], afterwards respectively [[Archbishop of York]] and [[Bishop of Oxford]], and later joined the household of Sir [[Antony Cope]] of Hanwell, near [[Banbury, England|Banbury]]. He was now frequently employed in carrying despatches between the future [[Charles II of England]] and royalist sympathisers. In May 1659 he brought a command from Charles in [[Brussels]], directing [[Brian Duppa]], the [[Bishop of Salisbury]], to summon all bishops to consecrate clergymen to various sees "to secure a continuation of the order in the [[Church of England]]", then in danger of becoming extinct.

While returning from one of these missions, in the winter before the Restoration, he was arrested at Dover and committed a prisoner at [[Lambeth Palace]], then used as a jail for royalists, but was freed after a few weeks at the instance, among others, of Lord Shaftesbury. At the Restoration he became canon of Christ Church, D.D. and city lecturer{{clarify|date=February 2016}} at Oxford. In 1663 he was made chaplain to the king and [[Regius Professor of Divinity]]. He was an [[Arminianism|Arminian]] discussion partner of the [[Calvinism|Calvinist]] [[Thomas Barlow (bishop)|Thomas Barlow]] while at Oxford.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The later Stuart Church, 1660–1714|publisher=Manchester University Press|year=2012|isbn=978-1-5261-3072-3|editor-last=Tapsell|editor-first=Grant|edition=1|location=Manchester|pages=48|doi=10.2307/j.ctt1vwmdzv|jstor = j.ctt1vwmdzv}}</ref> In 1665 he was appointed provost of [[Eton College]], and proved himself a capable administrator. He introduced order into the disorganised finances of the college and procured the confirmation of [[William Laud]]'s decree which reserved five of the Eton fellowships for members of King's College. His additions to the college buildings were less successful: the Upper School constructed by him at his own expense, was falling into ruin almost in his lifetime, and was replaced by the present structure in 1689. 

Allestree was buried in the chapel at Eton College, where there is a [[Latin]] inscription to his memory.<ref name="Hughes09"/>

Allestree bequeathed his library of circa 3500 books to Christ Church, Oxford,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Richard ALLESTREE 1621/2-1681 |url=https://www.bookowners.online/Category:All_Owners |access-date=29 September 2022 |website=Book Owners Online}}</ref> where he also served as treasurer, helping the college to recover in the years after the civil war.<ref name="Hughes09"/>