William Heather

William Heather, or Heyther, ( – 1627) was a musician and the founder of the position of the Heather Professor of Music at the University of Oxford.

Life and career William Heather was born in Harmondsworth and sang in the choir of Westminster Abbey as a lay clerk (i.e. he was not ordained) between 1586 and 1615, when he joined the choir of the Chapel Royal. In these roles he was present at the funerals of Elizabeth I of England (1603), James I (1625) and James's wife Anne of Denmark (1619), and at the coronation of Charles I (1626). He married Margery Fryer at the adjoining church of St Margaret's, Westminster, in 1589. The composer Thomas Tomkins dedicated a madrigal, "Music Divine" (1622), to him. Heather died in late July 1627 at Westminster Abbey (in the Almonry) and was buried in the abbey on 1 August 1627. His will (dated 21 July 1627) left instructions for 64 mourning gowns to be given to poor men, which has been taken to indicate his age.