# William Brown

William Brown may refer to:

## Academics

* William Brown (industrial relations expert) (1945–2019), British academic, Master of Darwin College, Cambridge
* William Brown (plant pathologist) (1888–1975), British mycologist and plant pathologist
* William Brown (psychologist) (1881–1952), British psychologist
* William Fuller Brown Jr. (1904–1983), American physicist
* W. G. Brown, Canadian mathematician
* William Harvey Brown (1862–1913), American naturalist
* William Jethro Brown (1868–1930), Australian jurist and professor of law
* William L. Brown (geneticist) (1913–1991), American geneticist
* W. Norman Brown (1892–1975), American Indologist and Sanskritist
* William Yancey Brown (born 1948), American zoologist and attorney

## Sportspeople
### Association football

* William Brown (footballer, born 1865), English footballer
* William Brown (footballer, born 1874) (1874–1940), English footballer and cricketer
* William Brown (footballer, born 1876), Scottish footballer
* William Brown (footballer, born 1885), Scottish footballer
* William Brown (footballer, born July 1885) (1885–1915), Scottish footballer
* William Brown (footballer, born 1889), Scottish footballer
* William Brown (footballer, born 1897), Scottish footballer
* William Brown (footballer, born 1907) (1907–1976), English footballer and sprinter
* William Brown (footballer, born 1912) (1912–2008), Scottish footballer
* William Brown (footballer, born 1928) (1928–2010), English footballer
* William Brown (goalkeeper) (fl. 1889–1895), English footballer

### Cricket

* William Brown (Tasmanian cricketer) (1807–1859), English-born Tasmanian first-class cricketer
* William Brown (cricketer, born 1866), English cricketer
* William Brown (cricketer, born 1876) (1876–1942), English first-class cricketer
* William Brown (cricketer, born 1888) (1888–1964), English cricketer
* William Brown (cricketer, born 1889), English cricketer
* William Brown (cricketer, born 1900) (1900–1986), English cricketer
* William Brown (New Zealand cricketer) (born 1917), New Zealand cricketer
* William Brown (MCC cricketer), English first-class cricketer

### Other sports

* William Brown (golfer) (c. 1854—unknown), Scottish golfer
* William Brown (baseball) (1866–1897), American Major League catcher
* William Brown (tennis) (born 1945), American tennis player
* William Brown (rugby league) (1916–1982), Australian rugby league player
* William Davie Brown (1852–1876), Scottish rugby union player
* William Sorley Brown (1860–1901), Scottish rugby union player
* Will Brown (racing driver) (born 1998), Australian racing driver
* Rookie Brown (1925–1971), American professional basketball player
* Bill Brown (runner) (1925–2018), American middle distance runner

## Clergymen and theologians

* William Laurence Brown (1755–1830), Scottish divine (theologian)
* William Brown (clergyman) (1766–1835), Scottish clergyman and Hebraist
* William Montgomery Brown (1855–1937), American Episcopalian bishop and Communist author
* William P. Brown, American Presbyterian minister, author and biblical theologian
* William Haig Brown (1823–1907), English cleric and headmaster of Charterhouse School
* William Brown (priest) (1710–1797), Archdeacon of Northampton
* William Cabell Brown (1861–1927), American Episcopal missionary and bishop of Virginia
* William A. Brown (bishop) (1878–1965), American who served as the fourth Bishop of Southern Virginia
* William Adams Brown (1865–1943), American minister, professor and philanthropist
* William Francis Brown (1862–1951), bishop, see Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark

## Engineers

* William Liston Brown (1842–1929), American industrialist
* William C. Brown (1916–1999), American electrical engineer
* William F. Brown (engineer) (1919–2010), American welding engineer
* William Brown (bridge designer) (1928–2005), English structural engineer, bridge designer
* William Brown (mining engineer) (1717–1782), English mining engineer, waggonway designer and steam engine builder

## Military people

* William Brown (British Army officer) (1922–1984), commander of the Gilgit Scouts during the Partition of India
* William Brown (soldier) (1759–1808), American Revolutionary War soldier
* William Brown (Royal Navy officer) (1764–1814), British Royal Navy admiral
* William Brown (admiral) (1777–1857), or Guillermo Brown, Irish-Argentine Navy admiral
* William Brown (sailor) (birth name unknown), Black woman who briefly served in the Royal Navy in 1815, disguised as a man
* William A. Brown (admiral) (born 1958), vice admiral in the United States Navy
* William H. Brown (Medal of Honor) (1836–1896), American Civil War sailor and Medal of Honor recipient
* William Henry Brown (aviator) (1894–1969), Canadian World War I flying ace
* William Maurice Brown (1910–1975), New Zealand Lt. Colonel; first principal of Faujdarhat Cadet College
* William Gustavus Brown (1809–1883), commander of British troops in China and Hong Kong
* William Perry Brown Jr. (1923–1952), American Marine and recipient of two Navy Crosses

## Politicians and diplomats
### Australia

* William Brown (New South Wales politician) (1867–1954), member of the New South Wales Parliament
* William Brown (Tasmanian politician) (1840–1926), Australian politician
* William Villiers Brown (1843–1915), Queensland politician

### United Kingdom

* Sir William Brown, 1st Baronet, of Richmond Hill (1784–1864), British merchant and banker, MP for South Lancashire 1846–1859
* William Brown (MP for Gloucester), in 1341, MP for Gloucester
* William Brown (MP for Bedford), in 1397, MP for Bedford
* W. J. Brown (trade unionist) (William John Brown, 1896–1960), MP for Rugby 1942–1950
* William Robson Brown (1900–1975), UK Conservative politician, MP for Esher 1950–1970
* Oliver Brown (Scottish activist) (William Oliver Brown, 1903–1976), Scottish nationalist activist
* William Brown (Northern Ireland politician) (1930–2025), Northern Irish unionist politician, MPA for South Down 1982–1986
* Sir William Slater Brown (Lord Provost) (1844–1917), Scottish businessman and Lord Provost of Edinburgh

### United States

* William Brown (congressman) (1779–1833), U.S. Representative from Kentucky, 1819–1821
* William Brown (Illinois politician) (1819–1891), member of the Illinois House of Representatives
* William Brown (Louisiana politician) (1832–1883), Louisiana State Superintendent of Education, 1872–1876
* William Browne (judge) (sometimes reported as "Brown", 1737–1802), Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature
* William Anderson Brown (1861–1940), lawyer, member of the Minnesota legislature
* William Denis Brown III (1931–2012), Louisiana state senator from 1968 to 1976
* William E. Brown Jr. (1896–1970), mayor of Ann Arbor, 1945–1957
* William G. Brown Sr. (1800–1884), U.S. Representative from Virginia and West Virginia
* William G. Brown Jr. (1856–1916), U.S. Representative from West Virginia, son of William G. Brown
* William Wallace Brown (1836–1926), U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania
* William Brown, mayor of Rockford, 1857–1858, see List of mayors of Rockford, Illinois
* William Holmes Brown (1929–2001), Parliamentarian of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1974–1994
* William J. Brown (Ohio politician) (1940–1999), Ohio Attorney General, elected 1970
* William J. Brown (Indiana politician) (1805–1857), U.S. Representative from Indiana
* W. K. Brown (1923–2011), member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for Grant Parish, 1960–72
* William L. Brown (politician) (1840–1906), Ohio and New York politician
* William Little Brown (1789–1830), justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court
* William M. Brown (Pennsylvania politician) (1850–1915), U.S. Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, electee to the U.S. House of Representatives
* William W. Brown (Wisconsin politician) (died 1871), American politician
* William Matt Brown (1815–1885), mayor of Nashville, Tennessee, 1865–1867
* William Ripley Brown (1840–1916), U.S. Representative from Kansas
* William Andreas Brown (born 1930), U.S. Ambassador to Israel, 1988–1992

### Elsewhere

* William Brown (British Columbia politician) (1838–1915), Canadian politician in British Columbia
* William Brown (Manitoba politician), Canadian politician, 1922–1927
* William Heartz Brown (1883–1967), Canadian politician in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly
* William Brown (New Zealand politician) (1809–1898), member of first New Zealand Parliament

## Writers

* William Brown (journalist) (1737–1789), Canadian journalist and co-founder of the Quebec Gazette
* William Hill Brown (1765–1793), American novelist
* William Wells Brown (1814–1884), fugitive slave, African-American writer, and abolitionist
* William Slater Brown (1896–1997), American novelist, biographer and translator
* William F. Brown (writer) (1928–2019), American playwright
* William Henry Brown (journalist) (1867/8–1950), British co-operative movement journalist and activist

## Other notable people

* William Brown (physician) (1748–1792), American physician
* William D. Brown (1813–1863), founder of Omaha, Nebraska
* William Brown (miner) (1824/5–1900), British trade union leader
* William Penn Brown (1841–1929), American pioneer in the hobby of stamp collecting
* William J. Brown (architect) (died 1970), American architect
* William Kellock Brown (1856–1934), Scottish sculptor
* William Brown (veterinarian) (1861–1931), English veterinarian and activist
* William Lincoln Brown (1862–1940), second Register of Copyrights in the United States Copyright Office
* William Robinson Brown (1875–1955), American horse breeder and director of the Brown Company
* William B. Brown (1912–1985), American lawyer and judge in Hawaii and Ohio
* William Theophilus Brown (1919–2012), American artist
* William H. Brown III (born 1928), African American attorney, fourth Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
* William Brown (tenor) (1938–2004), American opera singer
* W. Earl Brown (born 1963), American character actor
* William Mason Brown (1828–1898), American artist
* William M. Brown (businessman) (born 1963), American businessman, CEO of Harris Corporation
* William Brown (composer) (1790–1884), American composer and flutist
* William Brown (headmaster) (1914–2005), British headmaster
* William Alexander Brown (1790–1884), African-American playwright and theatrical producer
* Sir William Richmond Brown, 2nd Baronet (1840–1906), English landowner
* Sir William Brown (civil servant) (1893–1947), English civil servant
* William Charles Langdon Brown (1931–2024), British banker
* William H. Brown (shipbuilder) (1803–1855), American shipbuilder
* Guillermo E. Brown (born 1976), American drummer and multi-disciplinary performer
* William Roger Brown (1831–1902), British industrialist and philanthropist
* William Brown, better known as Compa, British electronic musician

## Other uses

* William Brown,the main character in the Just William series
* William Brown (ship), American ship which struck an iceberg and sank on April 19, 1841
* William Brown Library and Museum, historic building in Liverpool, England
* William Brown Street, Liverpool