William Pennoyer was a British puritan merchant born in 1603. In 1657 he was elected as Master of the Clothworkers' Company and he became a Governor of Christ's Hospital

Christ's Hospital

Christ's Hospital is an English coeducational independent day and boarding school with Royal Charter located in the Sussex countryside just south of Horsham in Horsham District, West Sussex, England...

 in 1659. As a merchant he was involved in trading of cloth, tobacco and gunpowder. William Pennoyer was involved in the foundation of Pennoyer's school in the village of Pulham St Mary

Pulham St Mary

Pulham St Mary is a village in Norfolk, approximately east of Diss and south of Norwich. It covers an area of and had a population of 866 in 365 households as of the 2001 census....

.