William Dillwyn (1743, Philadelphia – 28 September 1824) was a British American-born Quaker of Welsh descent,[1] active in the abolitionist movement in colonial America and after 1774, Great Britain.
[2] He was one of the twelve committee members of the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade when it was formed in 1787.
He attended the Friends' English School of Philadelphia where he was taught by Anthony Benezet.
His great granddaughter by his grandson John was the Welsh astronomer and pioneer in scientific photography Thereza Dillwyn Llewelyn, and his great granddaughters by his grandson Lewis were the novelist and industrialist Amy Dillwyn and lepidopterist Mary De la Beche Nicholl.
His son-in-law, Richard Dykes Alexander stipulated that some street names should commemorate leading abolitionists when he provided the land for the development of which this road was a part.