Richard Holdsworth (or Houldsworth, Oldsworth) (1590, in Newcastle upon Tyne – 22 August 1649) was an English academic theologian, and Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge from 1637 to 1643.
Although Emmanuel was a Puritan stronghold, Holdsworth, who in religion agreed,[1] in the political sphere resisted Parliamentary interference, and showed Royalist sympathies.
[4] He was in 1629 the first Gresham College divinity lecturer appointed from the Puritan camp;[5] he held the position until 1637.
He lost his position as Master of Emmanuel, because of expressed royalist opinions;[8] and was briefly imprisoned by Parliament.
He was also a bibliophile who amassed a private collection of 10,000 books, bequeathed to the Cambridge University Library.