William Methwold

William Methwold (sometimes spelled Methold), (baptised 1590 in South Pickenham, near Swaffham, Norfolk; died 5 March 1653, Kensington), was an English merchant and colonial administrator in India. He is credited with identifying the site of Bombay as a strategic port.

A fictional character in the novel Midnight's Children by author Salman Rushdie bears the same name and is described as a direct descendant. (See List of Midnight's Children characters). He himself appears as a character in 1637: The Peacock Throne by Eric Flint and Griffin Barber.

Life He was the son of Thomas Methwold and his wife, Susan both of Swaffham, Norfolk. Sir William Methold, Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer was his uncle, and Sir John Cheke, tutor to King Edward VI, was his great-great-uncle. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to an English merchant, and served him for four years in London and then five in Middelburg, Netherlands. During this time he gained knowledge of Latin, and became fluent in Dutch and French.

In September 1615 Methwold was accepted for service in the East India Company as a linguist and sailed in its 1616 fleet to Surat, in Gujarat, India.