Sir William McArthur, KCMG JP DL (6 July 1809 – 16 November 1887)[1] was an Anglo-Irish businessman and Lord Mayor of London, and a Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1868 to 1885.

It was under his chairmanship that the Star participated in the syndicate organized by Robert William Perks to provide financial support to the Barry Dock and Railway Company in 1887.

[2] At the 1885 general election, McArthur stood as an Independent Liberal candidate in the new Newington West, but finished a poor third with 821 votes (16%).

He had several interests in social and reforming organisations, including the Orphan Working School of Haverstock Hill and Hornsey Rise, and the Aborigines' Protection Society.

[citation needed] McArthur died (aged 78) on the morning of 16 November 1887 in a carriage of the Metropolitan Railway near Paddington, while travelling into the City to chair a board meeting of the Star Life Assurance Society.