An English priest, born near Sevenoaks in Kent toward the end of the 13th century. In 1313 he became rector of Chart Sutton in the same county. The year of his death is unknown. He is probably the author of the first complete English version of the Book of Psalms, which is found in a manuscript containing various poems, some of which bear his name in the colophon.
The Psalms are written in the Mercian dialect (of central England), not in that of Kent, but this does not seem sufficient reason to doubt William’s authorship. The Psalms also include the canticles, besides the Athanasian Creed. The poems were published by the Percy Society in 1849, and the Psalms, edited by Prof. Bülbring, appeared in 1891. William’s work is of great devotional value and possesses notable, though not outstanding, literary merits.