William Thomas (antiquary)

Mezzotint of William Thomas by Valentine Green, after George Powle, published 1776

William Thomas (1670–1738) was an English clergyman and antiquary. He was educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, from which he received two degrees. Through the influence of distant relation John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, he was granted the living of Exhall in Warwickshire and later became rector of St Nicholas in Worcester. Thomas received two further degrees in divinity in the 1720s, including a doctorate. As part of his work as an antiquary Thomas visited every church in Worcestershire and transcribed many documents, including the now lost Red Book of Worcester.