Constituency : Hereford 1912 ( Liberal Unionist ) ; 1912-18 ( Conservative )
William took over from the Conservative, John Arkwright at Hereford. He was elected unopposed. The by-election took place two months before the final merger of the Conservative and Liberal Unionist parties making William the last MP to be elected under the latter colours.*
William was the son of an iron merchant. He was educated at Wolverhampton Grammar School and Oxford. He became a university lecturer and then first Director of the London School of Economics from 1895 to 1903. He quit to work for Joseph Chamberlain as Secretary of the Tariff Commission . He contested Shipley in January 1910 and Middleton in 1912.
William played an important part in the formation of the first wartime coalition when he warned Asquith that he was going to raise the shells shortage question in 1915.
William was Under Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1917 to 1918.
William, stood down in 1918 when local Tories made clear their preference for another candidate. He returned to academia and published books on trade and imperialism.
He died in 1931 aged 66.
* It should be noted that Neville Chamberlain, for one , never regarded himself as a Conservative and always stood as a plain "Unionist" candidate.
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