William Byngham (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

St John Zachary was a church, first mentioned in official records in 1181, within the City of London, England, on the north side of Gresham Street, Aldersgate...

 in the City of London

City of London

The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...

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

St Andrew, Holborn

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.-Roman and medieval:Roman pottery was found on the site during 2001/02 excavations in the crypt...

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

Henry VI of England

Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Until 1437, his realm was governed by regents. Contemporaneous accounts described him as peaceful and pious, not suited for the violent dynastic civil wars, known as the Wars...

 himself, to restore the 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...

s. The foundation of Godshouse

God's House, Cambridge

God's House is the name of one of the former colleges of the University of Cambridge, that existed between 1437 and 1505, when it was reformed as Christ's College. It was established in 1437 by William Byngham on land now occupied by King's College Chapel....

  in Cambridge

Cambridge

The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

 in 1437 (with financial backing from a former Lord Mayor of London 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.