Constituency : Swansea District 1893-5
William took over from Henry Vivian when the latter was elevated to the peerage. He was unopposed.
William started work in a tinplate factory as a boy. He had to have a leg amputated after a workplace accident. The firm employed him as an office clerk after the accident and his business acumen became apparent. in 1868 he founded the Worcester Tinplate Works which eventually swallowed up his former employer. He also had interests in a bank, the Swansea Gas Company, a railway and a colliery company. He became president of Swansea's Liberal Association. He was mayor of the town in 1883-4. He retired from the town council in 1886 but was elected to Glamorgan County Council in 1887. He was a Congregationalist.
William asked just two parliamentary questions on local matters and stood down in 1895.
He died in 1904 aged 64. His son Thomas was a later MP for the seat.
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