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William Pennoyer was born in England in 1602/3, and was apprenticed to a vintner in Bristol aged 16. From these modest beginnings, he rose to prominence as a major figure in both London and in New England. Throughout his life, William was a Puritan of frugal disposition, described by a contemporary as "a person wholly composed of Mercy and Goodness, Bounty and Liberality" and yet he amassed great wealth through trading activities, a few of which today might be considered rather questionable.
However, his charitable support of worthy causes stands as his greatest monument, and without his endowment, Pulham St Mary school would not have survived. William Pennoyer is remembered even today in the USA as the benefactor of the Pennoyer Scholarship at Harvard University, one of the oldest scholarships in the USA.
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