William Canynge (c. 1399 - 1474), was an English merchant and one of the richest Englishmen of his day.
He was born at Bristol in 1399 or 1400, a member of a wealthy family of merchants and cloth-manufacturers in that city. He entered the family business, which was greatly expanded by his efforts. Canynges was five times mayor of Bristol, and twice member of parliament for Bristol. He owned a fleet of ten ships, the largest known in England at that time, and is said to have employed 800 seamen. By special license from the king of Denmark he enjoyed for some time a monopoly of the fish trade between Iceland, Finland and England, and he also competed successfully with the Flemish merchants in the Baltic sea, obtaining a large share of their business.
In 1456 he entertained the queen, Margaret of Anjou, at Bristol, and in 1461Edward IV. Canynges undertook at his own expense the great work of rebuilding the famous Bristol church of St Mary, Redcliffe, and for a long time had a hundred workmen in his regular service for this purpose. In himself took holy orders, and in 1469 was made dean of Westbury. The statesman, George Canning, and the first viscount Stratford de Redcliffe were descendants of his family.
See Pryce, Memorials of the Canynges Family and their Times (Bristol, 1854).
Canynges undertook at his own expense the great work of rebuilding the famous Bristol church of St Mary, Redcliffe, and for a long time had a hundred workmen in his regular service for this purpose.
Canynge is represented as an enlightened patron of literature, and Rowley's dramatic interludes were written for performance at his house.
In order to escape a marriage urged by the king, Canynge retired to the college of Westbury in Gloucestershire, where he enjoyed the society of Rowley, and eventually became dean of the institution.
In " The Storie of WilliamCanynge," one of the shorter pieces of his ingenious romance, his early history is recorded.
Feeds |
Contact