Sir William Sevenoke (c. 1373 – c. 4 July 1432) was a grocer and politician who served as Mayor of London in 1418, and as warden of London Bridge, alderman of Bishopsgate Ward, alderman of Tower Ward, Warden of the Grocers' Company, Sheriff of London, Member of Parliament for the City of London and Surveyor of the King's works at Isleworth.
Sevenoke is said to have been an orphan, found in Sevenoaks, Kent and adopted by William Rumschedde.
[2] Upon his death and resulting from a will dated 4 July 1432 he donated funds for the foundation of almshouses and a school in the town of Sevenoaks.
[3] William Lambarde gave an account of the life of Sevenoke and the foundation of the school and almshouses in A Perambulation of Kent (1576), suggesting that his decision to establish the institutions may have been inspired by his early history.
John Stow refers to William Sevenoke's civic roles and the founding of the school and almshouses in his Survey of London (1603), as does Anthony Munday in A Brief Chronicle (1611).