Constituency : Merthyr Tydfil 1888 - 1900
William took over at Merthyr after the death of Henry Richard. He stood as an "Independent Liberal" against the official nominee of the Merthyr Liberal Association which broke up as a result of the by-election.
William was a clergyman's son from Monmouth. He became a solicitor, then coal owner through speculation in mining shares and company promoter. In 1887 he bought the gold
mine at Gwynfynydd. He spent some time in Australia and also had investments in China. He was a Nonconformist.
Unlike his predecessor William was on the imperialist right of the party and did not get on with his fellow coal-owning Liberal in the seat , David Thomas. Thomas was particularly angered by his colleague's support for the Boer War. In 1900 Thomas intimated to his supporters that they should give their second vote to the Labour candidate Keir Hardie instead and William was defeated.
William supported Welsh disestablishment. Most of his parliamentary contributions were on mining issues.
William was in a long dispute with the Crown Estate Commissioners over royalty payments for his gold extraction and finally closed the mine in 1916.
He died in 1924 aged 80.
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