© OCCPA

Adam Squire was elected as Warden of Balliol in 1571. Despite being a mathematician, he was a colourful character, described as quarrelsome, lewd, lecherous, hypocritical, fantastical and a spendthrift. He nearly shot himself in the foot and risked his job when he convinced some gamblers to pay for ‘magical assistance’ that very year. He made himself appear even more ridiculous when he performed the ceremony at his own wedding; perhaps he hoped to save some money.

Squire’s father-in-law, the Bishop of London, made him Archdeacon of London, but while an inspection was made of his district, Squire was caught in bed with somebody else’s wife. The errant husband hit on a plan: he gambled and forged a love letter to his wife from a knight and handed it to his father-in-law as an excuse for lapsing in his duty to his wife. The Bishop was very upset, but looked on Squire more favourably because of the letter. When he discovered it was a forgery, the Bishop flew into a rage and, locating a butcher’s cudgel, went around and gave Squire a tremendous thrashing. Bearing in mind Squire was elected to a responsible position as head of a college, he was not setting too good an example.

In fact, from 1572–3 he recruited Christopher Bagshaw, a Fellow of Balliol, to his faction. Squire, a Protestant, loathed the senior bursar Robert Persons, a Jesuit. Bagshaw was Catholic and anti-Jesuit and falsely accused Persons of dodgy accounting (thirty years later was still going on about Persons cooking the books). Finally Persons was forced from the college at the beginning of 1574. He was given the choice of resigning or being dishonoured and thrown out. Squire continued as Warden until 1580.