He is probably to be identified with the William Barton who was vicar of Mayfield, Staffordshire, at the opening of the civil wars, and who is described in a certificate presented to the House of Lords 19 June 1643 as "a man of godly life, and able and orthodox in his ministry", and as "having been forced to desert his flock and family by the plundering cavaliers of Staffordshire".
In the preface Barton says: "I have (in this my last translation) corrected all the harsh passages and added a great number of second metres."
He continues: "The Scots of late have put forth a Psalm-book mostwhat composed out of mine and Mr.
In 1654 he had prepared the way for his enlarged and improved Psalms by publishing A View of the many Errors and some gross Absurdities in the old Translations of the Psalms in English Metre (Douce's copy in Bodleian).
Richard Baxter suggested that Barton should specially translate and versify the Te Deum.