William Hussey (judge)

Sir William Hussey (or Huse or Husee) of Sleaford, Lincolnshire, SL (1443 – 8 September 1495) was an English lawyer who served as Attorney General and as Chief Justice of the King’s Bench.

William Hussey was the son of John Hussey or Huse or Husee of Old Sleaford, Lincolnshire, and wife Elizabeth Nesfield or Neffield of Yorkshire.

He was a member of Gray's Inn, and on 16 June 1471 was appointed Attorney General, with full power of deputing clerks and officers under him in courts of record. As Attorney General he conducted the impeachment of the Duke of Clarence for treason. In Trinity term of 1478 he was made a Serjeant-at-Law, and on 7 May 1481 was appointed Chief Justice of the King's Bench, in succession to Sir Thomas Billing, at a salary of 140 marks a year. This appointment was renewed at the ascension of each of the next three kings, and under Henry VII, he was also a commissioner to decide the claims made to fill various offices at the coronation.

In the first year of this reign, he successfully protested against the king's practice of consulting the judges beforehand upon crown cases which they were subsequently to try. In June 1492, he was a commissioner to treat with the ambassadors of the King of France. He died 8 September 1495, and was buried at Sempringham. On 24 November of that year, Sir John Fineux succeeded him as Chief Justice.