[This quote needs a citation] William left Cheltenham to return to his parents in London in 1774, where he was apprenticed out as a silversmith at the age of 13 years for 15/- a week.

In the first – preached on 5 November 1792 on "The commemoration of National Deliverance" – he referred to the French Revolution, that was taking place at the time, and spoke ot[clarification needed] with some commendation.

The following is a brief extract from the close of the sermon – "Take no doctrine on trust: you have the scriptures in your hands, use them as the touchstone of truth:- persecute no man for his religious tenets; labour to spread abroad the rays of divine truth; attend with diligence to the instruction of the rising generation, and instil into their minds proper principles of civil and religious liberty.

As Britons, it behoves you in the present important crisis to act with that dignity which has long characterised this nation".

In the second sermon of 18 November 1792, there is scarcely an illusion of political matters, unless a reference to the African slave trade may be so called.

Because he expressed radical views in his sermons, Winterbotham was put into jail in Newgate Prison in 1793[2] and released in 1797.

[3] On 26 November 1797 he married Mary Brend and they had seven children (4 sons and 3 daughters); he died on 31 March 1829 in Stroud, Gloucestershire.