William was a son of John and Margaret Bill of Ashwell in the
county of Hertfordshire. His brothers were John, a lawyer of
Ashwell and Thomas, M.D. (died 1552), physician to Henry VIII and
Edward VI. His sisters were Mary, who married Francis Samwell and
Elizabeth, who married Thomas Gosnold. William was educated at St
John's College, Cambridge, becoming Master there and Doctor of
Divinity in 1547. He was elected Master of Trinity College in
1551, became Lord High Almoner 1558-61 and assisted Archbishop
Parker in revising the liturgy of Edward VI. He was installed as
Dean of Westminster 30 June 1560 (the first Dean since Elizabeth
I established the Abbey as a Collegiate Church). But he died the
following year and was buried in the chapel of St Benedict, where
his small figure in brass on a low tomb still remains. He was not
married.
The inscription around the edge of the tomb can be translated:
"Here lies William Bill, D.D., Dean of Westminster, President of
Eton College and head of Trinity in Cambridge, and Chief Almoner
to the most serene princess Queen Elizabeth. He died 15 July
1561."
The inscription on the brass plate below his effigy can be
translated as
"Bill was himself a good man and a lover of virtue;
he taught the learned and was himself learned. He was careful of
his office and a teacher of probity. He accomplished many things
well by speaking little. The country has lost a prudent and the
Queen a faithful servant, and the poor man laments at his
father's passing. And their Head has left three colleges
mournful, a Head such as I deem they will not have again for a
long time. Either I loved him too much while he lived, or he was
a great loss to his country when he died."
The epitaph was
obviously written by someone who knew him well. Originally there
were four shields with coats of arms but all have now disappeared
from the tomb. In heraldic terms his arms are 'ermine, two bills
(or billhooks) in saltire proper, on a chief azure, between two
pelicans heads erased argent, a pale of the last charged with a
rose gules (ie. two silver pelicans heads between a red rose at
the top of the shield, with two crossed billhooks on an ermine
background below).
Colour photos of the brass can be purchased from Westminster
Abbey Library. (rubbing of this brass is not permitted)
Further reading:
"The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2004" for William and Thomas
Bill.