What was the occupation of John Harvard, after whom the Harvard University is named?

John Harvard (26 November 1607 – 14 September 1638) was an English minister in America, "a godly gentleman and a lover of learning", whose deathbed bequest to the "schoale or Colledge" recently undertaken by the Massachusetts Bay Colony was so gratefully received that it was consequently ordered "that the Colledge agreed upon formerly to bee built at Cambridg shalbee called Harvard Colledge."  Despite a persistent myth to the contrary, John Harvard is properly considered one of the founders of Harvard College.

A statue in his honor is a prominent feature of Harvard Yard.

Harvard was born and raised in Southwark, England, the fourth of nine children of Robert Harvard (1562–1625), a butcher and tavern owner, and his wife Katherine Rogers (1584–1635), a native of Stratford-upon-Avon whose father, Thomas Rogers (1540–1611), was an associate of Shakespeare's father's (both served on the borough corporation's council). Harvard was baptised in the parish church of St Saviour's (now Southwark Cathedral) and attended St Saviour's Grammar School, where his father was a member of the governing body and a warden of the Parish Church.