# William Taylor

William Taylor may refer to:

## Military

* William Taylor (Royal Navy officer, born 1760) (1760–1842), British naval officer
* William P. Taylor (Virginian) (1778–1834), American lawyer and militia Brigadier General
* William Rogers Taylor (1811–1889), U.S. Rear Admiral
* William G. Taylor (1829–1910), American sailor and Medal of Honor recipient
* William Taylor (Alamo defender) (fl. 1836), fatality at the Battle of the Alamo
* William Taylor (Medal of Honor) (1836–1902), Union Army soldier and officer during the American Civil War
* William Taylor (Royal Navy officer, born 1908) (1908–1999), British recipient of the George Cross
* William D. Taylor (general), United States Army general

## Political figures
### Australia

* William Taylor (New South Wales politician) (1862–1922), member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
* William Taylor (Tasmanian politician) (1894–1964), member of the Tasmanian Parliament
* William Taylor (Victorian politician) (1818–1903), pastoralist and member of the Victorian Legislative Council
* William Frederick Taylor (1840–1927), medical doctor and member of the Queensland Legislative Council
* William Tydd Taylor (1814–1862), member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly

### Canada

* William Benajah Taylor (1794–c. 1853), Canadian merchant and politician in Nova Scotia
* William Henry Taylor (politician) (1848–1916), Canadian politician in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
* William Horace Taylor (1889–1986), Canadian politician
* William Taylor (New Brunswick politician) (c. 1789–1834), Canadian businessman and political figure in New Brunswick

### New Zealand

* William Waring Taylor (1819–1903), New Zealand politician

### United Kingdom

* William Taylor (MP for Windsor) (fl. 1640), Member of Parliament (MP) for Windsor
* William Taylor (MP for Leominster) (fl. 1797), MP for Leominster
* William Thomas Taylor (1848–1931), British colonial administrator
* W. B. Taylor (William Benjamin Taylor, 1875–1932), British Member of Parliament
* Sir William Taylor, 1st Baronet (1902–1972), British Conservative Member of Parliament
* William Taylor (preacher) (fl. 2014–2017), Anglican minister elected to the Common Council of the City of London Corporation
* Sir William Taylor (civil servant) (1882–1969), British civil servant and forester

### United States

* William Taylor (New York politician) (1791–1865), U.S. Congressman from New York
* William L. Taylor (1931–2010), attorney and civil rights activist who served on the United States Commission on Civil Rights
* William P. Taylor (1791–1863), U.S. Congressman from Virginia
* William Robert Taylor (1820–1909), governor of Wisconsin
* William S. Taylor (American politician, born 1795) (1795–1858), member of the Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas state legislatures, Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives
* William S. Taylor (Kentucky politician) (1853–1928), Kentucky attorney general and governor; indicted for conspiracy to assassinate the succeeding governor
* William Taylor (Virginia politician, born 1788) (1788–1846), congressman and lawyer from Virginia
* William J. Taylor (1932–2018), politician in the state of Florida
* William B. Taylor Jr. (born 1947), ambassador to Ukraine from 2006 to 2009, and chargé d’affaires 2019-2020

## Religious figures

* William Taylor (Lollard) (died 1423), English priest and theologian, burnt as a Lollard
* William Taylor (Scottish minister) (1744–1823), Scottish minister, moderator and principal
* William Taylor (moderator) (1748–1825), minister of the Church of Scotland
* William Taylor (missionary) (1821–1902), U.S. missionary and bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church
* William Mackergo Taylor (1829–1895), U.S. Congregational minister
* William W. Taylor (1853–1884), American leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
* William Taylor (Archdeacon of Liverpool) (1820–1906), archdeacon in the Diocese of Liverpool
* William Taylor (Dean of Portsmouth) (born 1956), Anglican priest
* William Carey Taylor (1886–1971), English Baptist minister and missionary

## Scientists and engineers

* William B. Taylor (engineer) (1824–1895), American civil engineer and surveyor in New York
* William Taylor (inventor) (1865–1937), British inventor
* William C. Taylor (materials scientist), (1886–1958) of Howard N. Potts Medal
* William Taylor (ophthalmologist) (1912–1989), British ophthalmologist and expert on albinism
* William Randolph Taylor (1895–1990), American botanist
* William R. Taylor, psychiatrist, see Fuzzy cognitive map

## Sports people
### American football

* William S. Taylor (American football) (fl. 1928–1940), head football coach at University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff 1937–1940
* Willie Taylor (Canadian football) (1936–2022), American player of Canadian football
* Willie Taylor (American football) (born 1955), American NFL football wide receiver

### Cricket

* William Taylor (Surrey cricketer) (1821–1878), English cricketer
* William Taylor (Derbyshire cricketer) (1885–1976), English cricketer
* William Taylor (Worcestershire cricketer) (1885–1959), English cricketer

### Other sports

* William Taylor (jockey, born 1819), rode in 1846 Grand National
* William Taylor (jockey, died 1950), rode in 1898 Grand National
* W. F. Taylor (William Franklin Taylor; 1877–1945), Canadian ice hockey administrator, founding president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association
* William "Lady" Taylor (1880–1942), Canadian ice hockey player
* William Taylor (footballer, born 1886) (1886–1966), English footballer
* William Taylor (cyclist) (1899–1976), Canadian Olympic cyclist
* Willie Taylor (footballer) (c. 1870–1949), Scottish footballer
* Willie Taylor (basketball) (fl. 1960s), American basketball player
* William Taylor (tennis) (1860–?), English tennis player
* William Taylor (long jumper), winner of the standing long jump and standing high jump at the 1919 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships

## Writers, publishers, illustrators

* William Taylor (bookseller) (fl. 1708–1724), bookseller trading at St. Paul's Churchyard, London, and publisher of Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe in 1719
* William Taylor (historian) (1922–2014), U.S. historian, professor, and author
* William Taylor (man of letters) (1765–1836), English scholar and linguist
* William Taylor (writer) (1938–2015), New Zealand children's writer
* William B. Taylor (historian) (fl. 1965–2007), American historian
* William Cooke Taylor (1800–1849), Irish writer
* William Davis Taylor (1908–2002), American newspaper publisher, The Boston Globe
* William Ladd Taylor (1854–1926), American illustrator
* William O. Taylor (1871–1955), American newspaper publisher, The Boston Globe
* William O. Taylor II (1932–2011), American newspaper publisher, The Boston Globe
* William Benjamin Sarsfield Taylor (1781–1850), Irish artist and writer

## Legal professionals

* William Taylor (lawyer) (fl. 1971–2005), British lawyer who was lead counsel for Abdelbaset al-Megrahi at the Lockerbie trial
* William Taylor (police officer) (born 1947), British police officer
* William A. Taylor (1928–2010), Justice of the Wyoming Supreme Court
* William H. Taylor (judge) (1863–1926), Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court
* William M. Taylor (1876–1959), Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas
* William McLaughlin Taylor Jr. (1909–1985), U.S. federal judge
* William Taylor (judge) (born 1944), English senior Circuit Judge

## Others

* William Taylor (headmaster) (1840–1910), British teacher, headmaster of Sir Walter St John's Grammar School For Boys
* William Desmond Taylor (1872–1922), U.S. film director
* William Henry Taylor (1906–1965), alleged Soviet agent
* William Taylor, video game designer, see Blazing Angels 2
* William Taylor (folk song), a British folk song
* William Taylor (cotton manufacturer) (died 1852), cotton manufacturer in Lancashire, England
* William Taylor (academic) (1930–2005), English educationalist, vice-chancellor of the University of Hull
* William Taylor (Master of Christ's College, Cambridge) (16th century), academic
* William Joseph Taylor (1802–1885), British medallist and engraver
* Willie Taylor (born 1981), American singer and songwriter
* William Taylor (Nights: Journey of Dreams), video game character
* William Taylor & Son, an apartment building in Cleveland, United States