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William Lawrence (September 7, 1783 - October 14, 1848) was an American merchant, industrialist, and philanthropist. He was instrumental in the founding of the first woolen mill in Lowell, Massachusetts, The Middlesex Company, and the Suffolk Bank, the most prominent clearinghouse bank in 19th Century Boston, Massachusetts. He was a major benefactor of The Groton Academy, which in 1846 was renamed The Lawrence Academy at Groton in honor of William and his brother, Amos Lawrence.
William Lawrence was born on September 7, 1783 in Groton, Massachusetts, the third child of American Revolution veteran Samuel Lawrence and Susan Parker Lawrence. He attended Groton Academy, of which his father was a founder, in 1794, then began working on his family's farm. He fell ill in 1809, and left the farm to live in Boston with his brother Amos, who had recently established himself in business. He took to commerce quickly, opening his own store in 1810. He formed a partnership with another brother, Samuel, in 1822, operating an import business under the name "W. & S. Lawrence." In 1825, the Lawrence brothers began planning for a woolen mill along the Merrimack River in Lowell, which opened in 1830 as "The Middlesex Company." In 1826, they admitted William W. Stone as a partner, changing the name of the firm to "W. & S. Lawrence & Stone."
He married Susan Ruggles Bordman, daughter of William and Elizabeth David Bordman, on May 20, 1813.