Udall, Nicholas

Udall, Nicholas an English clergyman, was born in Hampshire in 1504 (others say 1506); and was admitted to Corpus Christi College, Oxford, June 18, 1520, where he became probationer fellow, Sept. 3, 1524. He wrote verses for the city of London pageant at the coronation of Anne Boleyn, May, 1533; took orders in the Church of England; and was made master of Eton School in 1534. In 1543 he was charged with complicity in the robbery of some college chapel plate, and for this is said by some to have been dismissed from the mastership of the school. He was vicar of Braintree, Essex, from 1537 to 1544; entered the service of queen Catherine Parr; in'1551 he became canon of Windsor; in 1552 was preferred to the rectory of Calbourne, Isle of Wight. He was appointed, head master of Westminster School in 1556; and died, according to some authorities, in December, 1556, but, according to a manuscript note on a copy of Bale, in 1557. Udall was the author of several school-books, some poems, etc., See Allibone, Dict. of Brit. and Amer. Authors, s.v.; Chalmers, Biog. Dict. s.v.