William Stafford (conspirator)

William Stafford (1554–1612) was an English courtier and conspirator.

He was the son of William Stafford of Chebsey, who had been the brother-in-law of Henry VIII of England and the uncle of Elizabeth I. The elder William Stafford's first marriage had been to Mary Boleyn, sister of Anne Boleyn, and Stafford was the child of his second marriage to Dorothy Stafford.

The Staffords had been a powerful family from the thirteenth to the early sixteenth-century, and still retained some of their former influence. After the execution of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham in 1521, the Staffords, who were descended from several branches of the royal family tree, lost much of their power and lands. Some, such as William's mother Dorothy, retained their influence by proving their loyalty.

In 1555, William's strongly Protestant family went into exile in Geneva, Switzerland. They were there for nearly two years and were associates with John Calvin who was godfather to William's brother. Following the death of his father, the remaining family moved to Basel, where they lived next door to John Knox. They returned to Waltham, Essex in 1559.

William was educated at Winchester College, where he was admitted in 1564, and New College, Oxford, where he matriculated in 1571. In 1573 he was elected a fellow of New College, but two years later he was deprived of his fellowship for being away without leave. He came to London, where his mother was in attendance on Queen Elizabeth.

In 1585, William went to France secretly, staying in the lodgings of his brother Sir Edward Stafford, ambassador to France, and spying on his own account. When this was found out, he begged Sir Francis Walsingham's intercession with his mother. He soon returned to England.