William Austin (March 2, 1778 – June 27, 1841) was an American author and lawyer, most notable as the creator of the Peter Rugg stories published in the periodical New England Galaxy during 1824–27.

[2] After the Constitution captured a French ship, the salvage proceedings brought Austin $200 and the acquaintance of Alexander Hamilton, who helped the young man begin his legal studies in London.

[3] While studying at Lincoln's Inn, Austin produced a lively series of "Letters from London", describing the politics and personalities during the age of Pitt and Fox.

Back in America, Austin was active in local politics in the Boston area, serving in the state senate as a representative of Middlesex during the early 1820s.

[citation needed] Although he was a frequent contributor to local periodicals on subjects ranging from Unitarian theology to chemistry to legal history, nothing else he wrote had the popularity of Peter Rugg: The Missing Man (1824) and its sequels.