WILLIAM of MALMESBURY (fl. 12th cent.).—­Historian, was an inmate of the great monastery at Malmesbury.  His name is said to have been Somerset, and he was Norman by one parent and English by the other.  The date of his birth is unknown, that of his death has sometimes been fixed as 1142 on the ground that his latest work stops abruptly in that year.  His history, written in Latin, falls into two parts, Gesta Regum Anglorum (Acts of the Kings of the English), in five books, bringing the narrative down from the arrival of the Saxons to 1120, and Historia Novella (Modern History), carrying it on to 1142.  The work is characterised by a love of truth, much more critical faculty in sifting evidence than was then common, and considerable attention to literary form.  It is dedicated to Robert, Earl of Gloucester, the champion of Queen Matilda.  Other works by W. are De Gestis Pontificum Anglorum, Lives of the English Bishops, and a history of the Monastery of Glastonbury.

WILLIAM of NEWBURGH, or NEWBURY (1136-1198?).—­Historian, belonged to the monastery of Newburgh in Yorkshire.  His own name is said to have been Little.  His work, Historia Rerum Anglicarum (History of English affairs), is written in good Latin, and has some of the same qualities as that of William of Malmesbury (q.v.).  He rejects the legend of the Trojan descent of the early Britons, and animadverts severely on what he calls “the impudent and impertinent lies” of Geoffrey of Monmouth (q.v.).  His record of contemporary events is careful.

WILLIAMS, SIR CHARLES HANBURY (1708-1759).—­Diplomatist and satirist, s. of John Hanbury, a Welsh ironmaster, assumed the name of Williams on succeeding to an estate, entered Parliament as a supporter of Walpole, held many diplomatic posts, and was a brilliant wit with a great contemporary reputation for lively and biting satires and lampoons.

WILLIS, BROWNE (1682-1760).—­Antiquary, ed. at Westminster and Oxf., entered the Inner Temple 1700, sat in the House of Commons 1705-8.  He wrote History of the Counties, Cities, and Boroughs of England and Wales (1715), Notitia Parliamentaria, etc.

WILLIS, NATHANIEL PARKER (1806-1867).—­Poet, b. at Portland, and ed. at Yale, was mainly a journalist, and conducted various magazines, including the American Monthly; but he also wrote short poems, many of which were popular, of which perhaps the best is “Unseen Spirits,” stories, and works of a more or less fugitive character, with such titles as Pencillings by the Way (1835), Inklings of Adventure, Letters from under a Bridge (1839), People I have Met, The Rag-Tag, The Slingsby Papers, etc., some of which were originally contributed to his magazines.  He travelled a good deal in Europe, and was attached for a time to the American Embassy in Paris.  He was a favourite in society, and enjoyed a wide popularity in uncritical circles, but is now distinctly a spent force.