William Bates

William Bates may refer to:


 * William Bates, Australian Aboriginal man who is said to have originated the phrase "Always was, always will be [Aboriginal land]" in the 1980s
 * William Bates (minister) (1625–1699), English Presbyterian minister
 * William Bates (Quaker) (died 1700), founder of Newton Colony, the third English settlement in West New Jersey
 * William Bates (academic) (1821–1884), professor of classics in Queen's College, Birmingham; editor of Maclise's Gallery.
 * William Bates (Australian politician) (1825–1891), Australian politician in colonial Victoria


 * William Bates (cricketer) (1884–1957), English cricketer
 * William Bates (physician) (1860–1931), American physician
 * William Gelston Bates (1803–1880), Massachusetts state legislator
 * William H. Bates (1917–1969), American politician
 * Houston Bates (William Houston Bates, born 1991), American football linebacker
 * Bill Bates (born 1961), American football player
 * William Penn Bates (1879–1956), American football player and coach
 * William Bates (Emmerdale), fictional character on ITV soap opera Emmerdale