William Wilson

Politicians

American

• Bill Wilson (activist), small government activist
• Bill Wilson (Montana politician), Montana state representative
• W. Eugene Wilson, member of the North Carolina General Assembly
• Will Wilson (Texas politician), American politician, attorney, and judge in Texas
• William A. Wilson (diplomat), first U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See
• William B. Wilson, U.S. labor leader and political figure
• * SS William B. Wilson, a Liberty ship
• William C. Wilson (New York politician), New York comptroller in 1906
• William E. Wilson (Indiana politician), U.S. Representative from Indiana
• William H. Wilson (New York politician), New York assemblyman
• William H. Wilson, U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania, 1935–1937
• William K. Wilson, Wisconsin state senator
• William Lyne Wilson, United States Postmaster General
• William Sydney Wilson, Confederate politician
• William T. Wilson, member of the Virginia House of Delegates
• William Warfield Wilson, U.S. Representative from Illinois
• William Wilson (Iowa politician), Iowa state senator
• William M. Wilson (politician), Iowa state senator
• William Wilson (Ohio politician), U.S. Representative from Ohio
• William Wilson (Pennsylvania politician), U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania, 1815–1819
• William Wilson (Wisconsin politician), Wisconsin state senator
• Bill Wilson, mayor of Santa Clara, California, founder of the Bill Wilson Center for homeless youth

British

• William Wilson (died 1582), MP for Southwark
• William Wilson (1720–1796), British Member of Parliament for Ilchester, 1761–1768
• William Wilson (Donegal MP), MP for Donegal 1876–1879
• William Wilson (Westhoughton MP), British trade unionist and Member of Parliament for Westhoughton
• William Wilson (Coventry MP), British Labour Member of Parliament, 1964–1983
• Bill Wilson (Scottish politician), Scottish nationalist
• William Wilson, prime minister of the micronation Austenasia

Canadian

• Bill Wilson (chief), hereditary chief and politician in British Columbia
• William Wilson (British Columbia politician), merchant and politician in British Columbia
• William Wilson (New Brunswick politician), Canadian politician in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick
• William Wilson (Upper Canada politician), politician in Upper Canada
• William Wallace Wilson, Alberta politician
• William Wilber Wilfred Wilson, Canadian politician

Australian

• William Wilson (Queensland politician), member of the Queensland Legislative Council
• William Wilson (Victorian politician), member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly and Council

New Zealand

• William Wilson (mayor), first mayor of Christchurch, New Zealand, 1868

Sports

Association football

• William Wilson (defender), English footballer for Newcastle United and Bradford City
• William Wilson (footballer, born 1902), English footballer
• William Wilson (footballer, born 1915), English footballer
• William Wilson (footballer, born November 1915), English footballer
• William Wilson (footballer, born 1921), Scottish football goalkeeper for Queen of the South and Third Lanark
• William Wilson (footballer, born 2001), Kenyan footballer
• Billy Wilson (footballer, born 1896), English footballer
• Billy Wilson (footballer, born 1936), Northern Irish football player for Burnley
• Billy Wilson (footballer, born 1946), English footballer
• Billy Wilson (American soccer), American soccer player
• Billy Wilson (Scottish footballer), played for Airdrieonians FC and managed Albion Rovers F.C.
• Willie Wilson (footballer, born 1894), Scottish footballer, played for Hearts and Cowdenbeath
• Willie Wilson (footballer, born 1941), Scottish footballer
• Willie Wilson (footballer, born 1972), Scottish footballer

Baseball

• William Wilson (baseball), American baseball player
• Will Wilson (baseball), American baseball player
• Willie Wilson (baseball), American baseball outfielder
• Willy Wilson (baseball), baseball player
• Bill Wilson (catcher), MLB catcher
• Bill Wilson (outfielder), MLB outfielder
• Bill Wilson (pitcher), Major League Baseball pitcher
• Mookie Wilson, MLB outfielder
• Mutt Wilson, MLB pitcher

Australian rules football

• William Wilson (sportsman, born 1909), Australian rules footballer for Essendon and cricketer for Victoria
• Bill Wilson (footballer), Australian rules footballer for Richmond and Glenelg
• Billy Wilson (footballer, born 1891), Australian rules footballer for Fitzroy
• Billy Wilson (footballer, born 2005), Australian rules footballer for Carlton

Cricket

• William Wilson (cricketer, born 1912), Australian cricketer
• William Wilson (South African cricketer), South African cricketer
• Billy Wilson (cricketer), Australian cricketer

Rugby

• Billy Wilson (Australian rugby league), Australian rugby league footballer
• Billy Wilson (New Zealand rugby league), rugby league footballer of the 1910s, and 1920s for New Zealand, Wellington and Athletic
• Will Wilson (rugby union), English rugby union and rugby sevens player

Other sports

• William Wilson (aquatics), Scottish writer on swimming, and the inventor of water polo
• Billy Wilson (running back), college football player
• William Wilson (field hockey), American Olympic hockey player
• William George Wilson, sports cinematographer
• Willie Wilson (speedway rider), Scottish speedway rider
• Billy Wilson (wide receiver), NFL wide receiver
• William Wilson (swimmer), Filipino swimmer
• Willy Wilson, Filipino basketball player
• William Wilson (wrestler),, British Olympic wrestler

Arts and entertainment

• William Wilson (architect), English architect, builder and sculptor
• William Wilson (poet), Scottish-American poet, bookseller and publisher
• W. J. Wilson , actor, scene painter and stage manager
• William Hardy Wilson, Australian architect, artist and author
• William Wilson (artist), Scottish stained glass artist, printmaker and watercolours
• William E. Wilson (photographer), English portrait photographer
• William E. Wilson (writer), American author and professor, son of the Indiana politician
• William Scott Wilson, author and translator of samurai literature
• Will Wilson (artist), American painter of portraits, illustrations and trompe-l'œil works
• Will Wilson (photographer), Native American photographer
• William Wilson (vocalist), lead singer of Legion Within
• William Llewellyn Wilson, conductor, musician, teacher and music educator from Baltimore
• Willie Wilson (drummer), member of Quiver; worked with Pink Floyd, Al Stewart

Business

• William Proctor Wilson, president of Buttrick Publishing Company
• Willie Wilson (businessman), Chicago businessman, musician, philanthropist, and political candidate
• William Willson (businessman), chairman of Aston Martin, 1972–1975
• W. R. Wilson, an Australian businessman with extensive interests in mining and a racehorse owner and breeder
• William Wilson, businessman, founder of Price's Candles
• Bill Wilson, founder of US firearms manufacturer Wilson Combat

Law and crime

• Billy Wilson (outlaw), American outlaw who rode with Billy the Kid
• Bill Wilson (convict), convicted of murdering two individuals who were later found alive
• Billy Roy Wilson, United States federal judge
• William Wilson (Illinois jurist), Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court
• Bill Wilson (judge), New Zealand judge of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal
• William C. Wilson (judge), Vermont lawyer and judge
• William Adam Wilson, professor of Scots Law at Edinburgh University
• William Rae Wilson, Scottish lawyer and travel writer
• William Robert Wilson, Australian murderer involved in the 1976 Spring Hill shooting

Military

• Sir William Deane Wilson, British army surgeon-general
• William Wilson (Medal of Honor), one of nineteen people to receive the Medal of Honor twice
• William Othello Wilson, member of the US Army's 9th Cavalry, and recipient of the Medal of Honor
• William Tecumseh Wilson, American Union brevet brigadier general from Ohio
• William Wilson (Zouave), American Union brevet brigadier general from New York
• William Wilson (Commodore), Commodore of the East India Company

Religion

• William Wilson (priest), Canon of Windsor
• William Wilson (Secession minister), co-founder of the Secession Church
• William Carus Wilson, English churchman and founder and editor of The Children's Friend
• William Wilson (bishop), Anglican bishop in Scotland
• William Wilson (Dundee minister) Presbyterian minister, moderator of the Free Church
• William Hay Wilson, Anglican priest
• William C. Wilson (minister), General Superintendent of the Church of the Nazarene
• William Lyall Wilson, minister of the Church of Scotland
• Bill Wilson (pastor), president and founder of Metro Ministries International
• William Wilson (American academic), theologian affiliated with Oral Roberts University
• William Wilson (Dean of Cloyne), Dean of Cloyne, 1908–1934
• William Croft Wilson, American Congregational minister

Science

• William Wilson (botanist), English botanist
• William James Erasmus Wilson, physician and surgeon
• William Edward Wilson (astronomer), Irish astronomer
• William Parkinson Wilson, English astronomer and professor of mathematics
• William Wilson (English academic), English physicist
• William Wilson (physicist), English-born physicist
• William Hawkins Wilson, British physiologist
• William L. Wilson (nanoscientist), American scientist

Others

• William "Amos" Wilson, folklore figure of southern Pennsylvania, referred to as "The Pennsylvania Hermit"
• William A. Wilson (folklorist), studied and taught Mormon folklore
• Bill W., co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous
• Edward Wilson (explorer), known as Uncle Bill, Antarctic explorer
• William Wilson (engineer), English railway pioneer in Germany
• William E. Wilson, British railway civil engineer, first employer of John Harry Grainger
• William Julius Wilson, sociologist
• William L. Wilson (Rice University), professor of electrical engineering

In fiction

• "William Wilson" (short story), an 1839 short story by Edgar Allan Poe
• "William Wilson", a song from The Smithereens' 1989 album 11
• Wilson the Wonder Athlete, a character in British story and comic papers published by D.C. Thomson
• Billy Wilson, a character in Angels with Broken Wings
• Agent Bill Wilson, also known as CIA, a character in ''The Dark Knight Rises''