 In 1638 a benefactor , William Holmes , gave £ 400 to the burgesses of Wisbech to be invested in land , and the rest applied for the maintenance of two scholars at Magdalene College , Cambridge . In his will of 1656 Holmes directed that the whole yearly income of his 46 @-@ acre estate in Holbeach , Lincolnshire be paid yearly towards the maintenance of the scholars and the endowment of the school . Other land and property had been donated to the school in the wills of Thomas Parkes in 1628 and John Crane in 1651 . Crane 's estate included land in Fleet , Lincolnshire and an inn on Market Hill called the Black Bull . 
