Percival, John (1834-1918)

British headmaster and bishop. A scholar and fellow of Queen's College, Oxford University, Percival taught at Rugby School from 1860, and in 1862 was appointed first headmaster of Clifton College in Bristol, England, then a struggling foundation. Percival raised the college to be one of the great public schools. He was also a prime mover in the foundation of Somerville College in Oxford, England. In 1879 he left Clifton to become president of Trinity College, Oxford University. In 1886 he accepted the headmastership of Rugby, and in 1895 the bishopric of Hereford. A strong Liberal, his opinions on ecclesiastical and political questions were not always shared by the diocesan clergy.