William McGlory (born McGrory; 1850–1927) was an American saloon keeper and underworld figure in New York City during the mid-to late 19th century.

Drunken customers were robbed, many times by the female regulars who flirted with the victim beforehand, and then dragged from a table by a bouncer and thrown out into the street.

These men were described as "some of the most expert rough-and-tumble fighters of the period" and could be seen walking the club freely wearing pistols, knives, brass knuckles, and bludgeons which they often used against unruly or otherwise uncooperative customers.

[3][13] Armory Hall was entered from the street through a double doorway, which led into a long, narrow passageway with its walls painted "dead black".

Fifty feet down the unlighted passage was the barroom and from there the main dance hall, furnished with chairs and tables, which accommodated up to 700 people.

A balcony ran around two sides of the hall with small box seats, some containing secret compartments,[14] separated by heavy curtains reserved for wealthy patrons.

Private exhibitions were held in these boxes "even more degraded then the Haymarket" and McGlory, as an added attraction, employed half a dozen young males as waitresses "dressed in feminine clothing and circulated through the crowd, singing and dancing".

It was the robbery of a contractor, Bernard Lee, and others that prompted District Attorney John McKeon to search for untried indictments against McGlory.

Upon release from prison he said that he would not take up the temperance cause as he was an "awful example",[17] McGlory gained considerable notoriety from the press, especially from the New York Herald, who titled him the "Vicar General".

He was one of several prominent figures, along with police officials, politicians, and sportsmen, who attended the bare-knuckle boxing prize fight between John L. Sullivan and Paddy Ryan at Madison Square Garden on January 19, 1885.

[5] Upon the election, reform Mayor Abram S. Hewitt, who promised to clean up the vice and red light districts in New York City, closed many of the famous resorts, including Harry Hill's, Frank Stephenson's Black and Tan, Theodore Allen's American Mabille and, in lower Manhattan, The Haymarket.

[5] A year later, McGlory bought the Hotel Irving, a respectable restaurant and boarding house in uptown Manhattan, and turned it into an all-night saloon and dance hall.

District Attorney De Lancey Nicoll ordered McGlory's arrest and, in December 1891, he stood trial at the Court of General Sessions for running a disorderly house.

Other charges, aside from liquor law violations, were claimed by prostitute Nellie Martin, bookmaker Samuel Guggenheim, as well as additional witnesses who testified to other serious allegations.