John Incent is born in Berkhamsted c.1480, the son of Katherine and Robert Incent. His parents are important people in the parish and Robert is secretary to Cicely, Duchess of York at Berkhamsted Castle. John Incent rises to be a powerful political figure, and in 1513 is ordained as a priest. He is loyal to King Henry VIII and becomes involved in the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Thomas Cromwell, and shuts down the monastic hospital of St John the Baptist in Berkhamsted in 1523. In 1529 Incent is appointed Chaplain to the King, and in 1540, Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral in London. In 1541, Incent establishes a school on the confiscated monastic lands, “one chauntry perpetual and schools for boys not exceeding 144 to be called Dean Incent’s Free School in Berkhamstedde” — known today as Berkhamsted School. The house of John Incent’s birth on Berkhamsted High Street is now called Dean Incent’s House.
