Sir William Mitchell Acworth KCSI (22 November 1850 – 2 April 1925) was a British railway economist, barrister and politician.

[1][2][3] The third son of the Reverend William Acworth of the Hall, South Stoke, near Bath, Somerset, and Margaret née Dundas, he was born at Rothley, Leicestershire, where his father was vicar in 1850.

[1][3] Acworth became involved in Conservative and Unionist politics of London, and in 1886 he was elected a member of the Metropolitan Asylums Board.

[1][3] When the first elections to the London County Council were held in January 1889, Acworth was nominated as a candidate of the Conservative-backed Moderate Party.

[1][2] These two books comprised a series of descriptive articles of the railways, but his later work concentrated on the economics and statistics of the industry.

The heavy workload led to a deterioration in his health, and he died suddenly at his London home at The Albany, Piccadilly, aged 74.