William Byngham (also William Bingham) (c. 1390 – 17 November 1451) was the founder of the first secondary school training college in Britain. Byngham became vicar of

St John Zachary St John Zachary (meaning "St John, son of St Zachary", i.e. John the Baptist) was a church, first mentioned in official records in 1181, within the City of London, England, on the north side of Gresham Street, Aldersgate. Its vicar from 25 May ...

in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

on 25 May 1424, where, along with other prominent clergy such as Worthyngton

St Andrew, Holborn The Church of St Andrew, Holborn, is a Church of England church on the northwestern edge of the City of London, on Holborn within the Ward of Farringdon Without. History Roman and medieval Roman pottery was found on the site during 2001/02 ...

, Lychefield (St Mary Magdalene, Old Fish Street) and Cote (St Peter-upon-Cornhill), he petitioned wealthy

aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members the ...

, and indeed the King himself, to restore the

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

s. The foundation of God's House in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

in 1437 (with financial backing from a former

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...

John Brokley) should have been a triumphant conclusion to his long campaign, but it took a further decade before his foundation was finally given the royal seal of approval."Social history of Education in England" Lawson, J:London, Methuen,1973

Notes

1390s births 1451 deaths 15th-century English Roman Catholic priests History of education in England {{UK-academic-bio-stub