William Capon was an English churchman and scholar.

Life

He was born at Salcott, near Colchester

Colchester

Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...

 in Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

 in 1480. He was educated at Cambridge University, earning his B.A. degree in 1499 and his M.A. in 1502 (at the age of 22). In 1516 he became a Master of Jesus College, Cambridge

Jesus College, Cambridge

Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The College was founded in 1496 on the site of a Benedictine nunnery by John Alcock, then Bishop of Ely...

 and in 1526, aged 46, he was appointed Rector of St. Mary’s Church

St. Mary's Church, Southampton

St. Mary's Church, Southampton is the largest church in the city of Southampton, England and can trace its origins to the first Saxon settlements of the 7th century. In 1917, the sound of the church bells inspired the writing of the song, "The Bells of St. Mary's", later sung by Bing Crosby in the...

 in Southampton

Southampton

Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...

 and subsequently also Rector of St. Mary's Church, South Stoneham

St. Mary's Church, South Stoneham

St. Mary's Church, South Stoneham is one of the two remaining medieval churches in the city of Southampton, England. Parts of the building date from the Norman period and the chancel arch is 12th century...

. In 1546, aged 66, William resigned from his job at Jesus College and went to live in Southampton.

At the time, there was a chantry

Chantry

Chantry is the English term for a fund established to pay for a priest to celebrate sung Masses for a specified purpose, generally for the soul of the deceased donor. Chantries were endowed with lands given by donors, the income from which maintained the chantry priest...

 grammar school

Grammar school

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

 in St Mary's. These chantries were responsible for much of the little education in the town, but in 1548 the Chantries Act abolished the grammar schools. Capon believed that this was a severe blow to education so in his will he provided £100 towards the "erection, maynetenance and fyndinge of a gramer scole" in Southampton. It was not until 1553, three years after Capon’s death in 1550, that this wish was fulfilled and King Edward VI School, Southampton

King Edward VI School, Southampton

King Edward VI School, often referred to as King Edward's, or simply KES, is a selective co-educational independent day School located in Southampton, United Kingdom and is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. It was founded in 1553, after the death of William Capon , who...

 was founded. Capon is the name of one of the houses

House system

The house system is a traditional feature of British schools, and schools in the Commonwealth. Historically, it was associated with established public schools, where a 'house' refers to a boarding house or dormitory of a boarding school...

at the school, named after him.