William or Will or Willie Harris may refer to:
Politicians and political activists
Sportsmen
William Harris (born in 1812 or 1813, presumed dead in 1889) was a British-born beachcomber who settled in pre-colonial Nauru and adopted a Nauruan lifestyle.
A convict sentenced to the penal colony on Norfolk Island, he escaped and made his way to Nauru in 1842. There he "assimilated native culture [...,] took a Nauruan wife, fathered several children, and was adopted as a Nauruan. He became perhaps the only beachcomber the Nauruans ever fully accepted and trusted." He acted as an intermediary between his people of adoption and passing European trade vessels.
In 1881, Harris informed the Royal Navy that civil war had broken out on the island.
In 1888, when Nauru became a German protectorate, he assisted the German authorities in informing the Nauruans of the way in which the country would be governed, and in persuading them to relinquish their firearms, with which a third of the population had been killed during the civil war.
In 1889, his canoe was swept away to sea by strong currents, and he was not seen again.
William Harris (21 November 1861 – 23 May 1923) was an English first-class cricketer, who played four matches for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1884 and 1887, against Kent (two matches), Sussex and Cambridge University.
Born in Greasbrough, Rotherham, Yorkshire, England, Harris was a left-handed batsman. He scored 45 runs at 7.50, with a best score of 25 on debut against Kent in 1844. He took one catch and, when bowling, conceded 18 runs without taking a wicket.
He played with the Aldewick Park C.C. before moving to Worksop, Nottinghamshire, in 1885, and York Town C.C. in 1886. He also had several seasons at Armley C.C. but was at Haslingden, Lancashire, as a professional in 1892 and 1893 and then as amateur. His 106 not out against Bacup C.C. was the first century on the Haslingden ground.
Harris died in May 1923, in Longsight, Manchester.