William Mansfield Poole (6 April 1871 – 13 December 1946) was an educationalist and author of several widely held academic text books.

[7] He was the son of Canon Robert Burton Poole, who was then a master at Clifton College and would later be headmaster of Bedford Modern School between 1877 and 1900.

[8][9] Poole was educated at Bedford Modern School, where he was in the First IV from 1887 to 1889; the first XV from 1886 to 1888; captain of the team in 1887 and 1888.

[6] He went abroad to increase his knowledge of French and German before being appointed Modern Language Master to the Black Prince, a training ship for naval cadets.

[3] On retirement, Poole and his wife started a school in Brussels for English girls coming there to perfect their colloquial French.