William Stephens (January 28, 1671 – 1753), of Bowcombe, near Newport, Isle of Wight, and later Beaulieu, Savannah, Georgia, was an English Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1702 to 1727.

[3] Stephens retained the Newport seat at the 1715 British general election on his own interest and voted against the Administration in all recorded divisions.

Having subsequently lost his electoral interest at Newport to the Government, at the 1722 British general election was returned instead for Newtown by Sir Robert Worsley.

He sold all his property and absconded, until his friends found him the job of agent for the York Buildings Company in North Scotland at a salary of £200 p.a.

[6] Growing frustration with Oglethorpe's brief and infrequent reports led to the appointment of Stephens as secretary to the board of trustees of the Province of Georgia.

[7] Serving the state and the Trustees faithfully for years, through it all – good, bad, and ordinary – William Stephens remained president of Georgia.

The Trustees turned Georgia affairs over to Henry Parker, although Stephens technically continued to hold the post of president until April 1751.

Less than three years later, he died of the illnesses associated with old age, apparently in 1753, although the details of death recorded by his son (including the date and descriptions of Stephens' condition) are, according to his biographer Julie Anne Sweet, somewhat fanciful.