Life

He was born about 1636 in Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...

, matriculated from Magdalen Hall, Oxford, on 24 June 1653, graduating B.A. on 14 December 1655 and M.A. on 11 June 1658. He was incorporated at Cambridge in 1660, and was created D.D. of Cambridge, comitiis regiis, in 1690.

On 4 September 1673 he was instituted to the rectory of St. Mildred Poultry, and on 21 September 1683 was collated to the prebend of Rugmere in St. Paul's. After the Glorious Revolution

Glorious Revolution

The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...

 he became chaplain to William and Mary

William and Mary

The phrase William and Mary usually refers to the coregency over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, of King William III & II and Queen Mary II...

, and was preferred to a prebend of Canterbury. In 1695 and in 1696 he was Boyle Lecturer, publishing his sermons separately as they were delivered. A collective edition appeared in 1708.

On 13 December 1696 he was consecrated bishop of Chichester. He died in London in Gray's Inn

Gray's Inn

The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...

 on 24 April 1709, and was buried on 28 April in the church of St. Mildred Poultry.

Works

Williams was known as a controversialist, writing against Roman Catholics and dissenters. Among his works were:

• 'The History of the Gunpowder Treason,' London, 1678; new edits. 1679 and 1681.
• 'A Catechism truly representing the Doctrines and Practices of the Church of Rome,' London, 1686; 3rd edit. 1713.
• 'The Difference between the Church of England and the Church of Rome,' 1687, (reprinted in 1738 and in 1836 in vol. iii. of the 'Enchiridion Theologicum' of Edward Cardwell
  Edward Cardwell
  Edward Cardwell was an English theologian also noted for his contributions to the study of English church history. In addition to his scholarly work, he filled various administrative positions in the University of Oxford....
  
  .
• 'A brief Exposition of the Church Catechism,' London, 1689; new edit. 1841; Welsh translation, 1699.
• 'A True Representation of the Principles of the Sect known by the name of Muggletonians,' London, 1694.