Sir William Denis Battershill KCMG (29 June 1896 – 11 August 1959) was a British colonial administrator.

After graduating, he enlisted in the British Army, serving in India and Iraq.

In 1920, he joined the Ceylon Civil Service as a cadet officer, rising to the position of 2nd Assistant Secretary and Clerk to the Legislative Council 1928.

Battershill also saw to it that it was illegal to pay Africans less than Europeans or Asians for doing the same work in Tanganyika.

"[4] In 1959, after a life of public service, he died in Cyprus, where he had chosen to live with his wife in retirement.