George Williams
- For the biologist George Williams see George C. Williams; for the U.S. Attorney General George Williams see George H. Williams.
Sir George Williams (1821-1905), was the founder of the YMCA.
Williams was born on October 11, 1821, on a farm in Dulverton, Somerset, England. As a young man, he described himself as a "careless, thoughtless, godless, swearing young fellow," but eventually became a devout Christian.
He went to London and worked in a draper's shop. Appalled by the terrible conditions in London for young working men, he gathered a group of his fellow drapers together and thought it would be more fun to stay at the YMCA.
Williams was knighted in 1894 by Queen Victoria. After his death in 1905, he was commemorated by a stained-glass window in the nave of Westminster Abbey. Sir George Williams is buried in St. Paul's Cathedral.
