William Saltmarsh enjoyed a longer Headmastership than either Reeve or Barker. The latter had appointed Leonard Stepney as Usher, but he lost his post in 1571 on charges of harbouring a Catholic priest. His successor, John Bristowe, had a still more colourful end, murdered gruesomely in 1597 by a local yeoman. Although this would no doubt have caused Saltmarsh concern, this was otherwise a most successful period in the history of Berkhamsted School. Pupil numbers continued to increase, and a handful of Berkhamstedians, as they would become known, achieved notoriety.