William Paynter

Who was William Paynter?

Rev. William Paynter D.D. was an English clergyman and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University.

The son of William Paynter or Cambourne, from Antron in Sithney, and Jane, the sixth child of Richard Keigwin of Mousehole, he was born at Trelissic Walbert, in the parish of St Erth, Cornwall, England, and baptised on 7 December 1637. Having been admitted as a poor scholar in February 1656, he matriculated from Exeter College, Oxford, on 29 March that year, and on 3 July 1657 he was elected to a fellowship of the college. He graduated B.A. in 1660 and M.A. in 1663, B.D. in 1674, and D.D. in 1695.

In 1669, together with those of several other Cornishmen, Paynter's fellowship was suspended by Arthur Bury, the college rector and a devout Devonian, on the grounds that Paynter had been elected to one of the fellowships earmarked for candidates from Devon. In spite of this rebuff, in 1685 Paynter gave £100 to Exeter College. The same year he faced scandal when a child was left on his doorstep in college and was claimed to be his; it was later revealed that John Jago, a disaffected undergraduate expelled by Paynter for debauchery, had tried to wreak revenge.