William II Canynges

William II Canynges was an English merchant and shipper, born at Bristol in 1399 or 1400, and member of a wealthy family of merchants and cloth-manufacturers in that city. He entered, and greatly extended, the family business, becoming one of the richest Englishmen of his day.

Canynges served times as mayor of, and twice as Member of Parliament for, Bristol. He owned a fleet of ten ships maintained by 800 seamen, and of total tonnage of about 2800 tons. The biggest of them were Mary and John of 900 tons, the Mary Radclyf of 500 tons, and the Mary Canyngys of 400 tons.

By special license from the king of Denmark in 1450, Canynges enjoyed for two years a monopoly of the fish trade between Iceland, Finland and England, and he also competed successfully with the Flemish merchants in the Baltic, obtaining a large share of their business.

Canynges is also remembered for he undertook at his own expense the great work of rebuilding the famous Bristol church of St Mary, Redcliffe. After the death of his wife Joan in September 1467, Canynges gave up his commercial and political life for the cloister and in 1469 was made dean of Westbury. He died in 1474 and was buried in St Mary Redcliffe Church, Bristol.