As a Sergeant at Arms, Sir William was part of the royal body guard that was composed of about thirty men at that time.
An interesting anecdote about Sir William's life is recorded in John Heneage Jesse's Memorials of London (1341): "In the 14th year of the reign of Edward III, John de Stratford, Archbishop of Canterbury, with a great number of London bishops, clergy, soldiers, came to the gate of Westminster Palace and demanded admittance to the chamber where Parliament was assembled.
Over the next hundred years, the family added to its land holdings in Surrey and his father, Peter Atte Wode, purchased the 220-acre (0.89 km2) estate known as 'Wood Place' in 1279.
Sir William's grandson, Peter Atte Wode, continued to expand both the family's land holdings and its influence by being appointed a Justice in Eyre; Peter's association with William of Wykeham who became the Bishop of Winchester and the Chancellor of England undoubtedly also helped to increase the family's influence.
The Atte Wode family name underwent a number of changes through the centuries with numerous variations in spelling: in the earliest records they are known as de Wyckhurst, by about 1300 they were commonly known as Atte Wode, a name that evolved into the modern version, Atwood, and finally, some (though not all) family members adopted the surname Wood in the 16th century.