The Revd. William Noyes (1568–1622), Rector of Cholderton, Wiltshire, was an Anglican clergyman of Puritan teachings. Under the influence of his instruction, members of his family succeeded him in Puritan ministry both in England and in Massachusetts Bay Colony, at first in Newbury, Essex County, where two of his sons, James and Nicholas, and his nephew Thomas Parker, were prominent figures. His grandson Nicholas Noyes was closely involved in the Salem witch trials. The religious motivations which led them to New England also gave rise to an extensive American branch of the Noyes family, of which William Noyes is the direct progenitor.