Sir William Burnaby, 1st Baronet (c. 1710 – 1776) was a British naval officer who became Commander-in-Chief, Jamaica Station.

In August 1741 he was given command of the bomb-ketch HMS Thunder and posted to Admiral Vernon's squadron in the West Indies.

In 1763 he was back in the West Indies in command of the fourth-rate HMS Dreadnought with orders to protect and exploit local trade.

[4] In 1765 he sailed to Belize at the request of the loggers there to protect them from Spanish attacks, drawing up a Civil Law for the colony called Burnaby's Code, which some claim to be the world's first constitution[5] and that has been signed by two women.

He had married twice: firstly Margaret, widow of Tim Donovan of Jamaica (they had the son, William Chaloner, and a daughter, Elizabeth) and secondly Grace, daughter of Drewry Ottley with whom he had six children, including Edward, who followed his father into the Royal Navy.