After Abraham Darby I had left the Bristol Brass Company to form his own new copper works at Coalbrookdale, fellow Quaker Nehemiah Champion took over leadership.
[3] Under the Bristol Brass Company, from 1738 within works established at the Old Market, by September 1742 he had produced 400 kilograms (880 lb) of zinc per charge from six crucibles located in the furnace, at a cost of around £7,000.
[3] In February 1750, William applied to the House of Commons for some form of recompense for the losses he had suffered in making the first home produced zinc, which he hoped would allow extension of his patented process.
Although a committee reported agreed that the patent should be extended through an act of Parliament, a counter petition by the powerful lobby of the merchants of Bristol delayed the passage, and William later abandoned the legal process.
By 1765, with excess capital on his hands, William commenced development of a new dock at Rownham on the eastern bank of the River Avon, which would be capable of holding 36 large ships.
This brought about the combined wrath of other metal companies formed under the Bubble Act 1720, as well as the pin makers of Gloucester, who petitioned that such an investment was 50% greater than their existing facilities.
[3] Due to the collapse of the process to incorporate, in April 1768 William's partners discovered that he had tried to withdraw part of his capital without permission, and he was instantly dismissed from the company.
On 29 April 1780 an advert appeared in Sarah Farley's Journal offering for sale a process of making English tar, from the estate of the deceased William Champion.