William Methwold (sometimes spelled Methold), (baptised 1590 in South Pickenham, near Swaffham, Norfolk; died 5 March 1653, Kensington), was an English merchant and colonial administrator in India. He is credited with identifying the site of Bombay as a strategic port.
A fictional character in the novel Midnight's Children by author Salman Rushdie bears the same name and is described as a direct descendant. (See List of Midnight's Children characters). He himself appears as a character in 1637: The Peacock Throne by Eric Flint and Griffin Barber.