A Williamite is a follower of King William III of England who deposed King James II in the Glorious Revolution. William, the Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, replaced James with the support of English Whigs.

One of William's aims was to ensure England's entry into his League of Augsburg against France in the Nine Years War. For Williamites in England, Scotland and Ireland, William was seen as the guarantor of civil and religious liberty and the Protestant monarchy against Catholic absolutism.

The term "Williamite" is also commonly used to refer to William's multi-national army in Ireland during the Williamite War in Ireland, 1689-91. In Ireland itself, William was supported by Protestant settlers and opposed by the native Irish Catholic Jacobites who supported James. He is still depicted in the iconography of the Orange Order, whose name comes from William's dynasty, the House of Orange-Nassau.

"Williamite" is sometimes applied to Late Stuart country house architecture built c 1690 - 1710 in the conservative classicising English tradition that had been established under Charles II by Hugh May and Sir Christopher Wren, of which Belton House, Lincolnshire, and, formerly Stoke Edith, Herefordshire are typical examples. Such compact houses do not fit easily within the conventions of English baroque architecture.

William Smith (also found as William B. Smith) (March 13, 1811 – November 13, 1893) was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and one of the original members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Smith was the eighth child of Joseph Smith, Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith and was a younger brother of Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement.

Early life

Born in Royalton, Vermont, Smith and his family suffered considerable financial problems and moved several times in the New England area. He was living in the home of his parents near Manchester, New York when his brother Joseph reported that he had brought home golden plates from the hill Cumorah. William was told by Joseph that he could not view the golden plates but was allowed to reach into the case and feel what Joseph said were the plates. William was baptized into his brother's Church of Christ on June 9, 1830 by David Whitmer, one of the Three Witnesses to the golden plates.

Church leadership