Sir William Billers (1689 – 15 October 1745) was an English haberdasher who was Alderman,

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

and

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

. He was born in

Thorley, Hertfordshire __NOTOC__ Thorley is a village and civil parish in East Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. The parish includes the hamlets of Thorley Street, Thorley Wash and Old Thorley, and is bordered at the north by the market town of Bishop ...

, where the Billers family, who originated from Kirby Bellars in

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

, owned Thorley Hall and manor. He became a London haberdasher and a member of the

Haberdashers' Company The Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, one of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies, is an ancient merchant guild of London, England associated with the silk and velvet trades. History and functions The Haberdashers' Company follows the M ...

, to whom he donated a painting entitled "The Wise Men's Offering" which hung in

Haberdashers' Hall The Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, one of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies, is an ancient merchant guild of London, England associated with the silk and velvet trades. History and functions The Haberdashers' Company follows the M ...

. In 1720–21, he was elected joint

Sheriff of the City of London Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ju ...

and in 1733-34 elected

. In 1722 he became an Alderman for

Cordwainer Ward Cordwainer is a small, almost rectangular-shaped ward in the City of London. It is named after the cordwainers, the professional shoemakers who historically lived and worked in this particular area of London; there is a Livery Company for the ...

. In 1726 he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

and was knighted in 1727. He died in 1745 and was buried in Thorley church. He married Anne (–1750), daughter of Sir Rowland Aynsworth and Sarah Fleet (daughter of Sir John Fleet, Lord Mayor of London in 1693), by whom he had two sons and four daughters: John, William, Martha, Anne, Elizabeth, and Maria. His two sons and daughter Martha predeceased him. His eldest daughter Anne, who married John Olmius (later Baron Waltham) was his eventual heiress. After his death, his extensive library was auctioned by

Christopher Cock Christopher Cock was a London instrument maker of the 17th century, who supplied microscopes to Robert Hooke. These microscopes were compound lens instruments, which suffered greatly from spherical aberration In optics, spherical aberration ...

at his house in the Great Piazza,

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

on 22 November 1745.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Billers, William 1689 births 1745 deaths People from Hertfordshire Haberdashers Sheriffs of the City of London Aldermen of the City of London 18th-century lord mayors of London Fellows of the Royal Society Knights Bachelor Freemasons of the Premier Grand Lodge of England