William de Whithurst (died after 1350) was an English Crownofficial,who held officeas ajudge in Ireland.
He appears to have been a native of Gloucester, where he held lands as a tenant of William de Holyns. He was a clerk in the Chanceryby the mid 1320s, andhe was said to have given "long and faithful service" to the Crown.
The best evidence for his activities before 1346 lies in two petitions datingapparentlyfrom1331.Williampetitioned the Kingfor reliefagainst being distrained by the Exchequer for debts owed to the Crown by the lateEarl of Kent, the King's uncle,of whose property he had been appointed Keeper, claiming that he had a letter under the Privy Seal discharging him from liability for the debt; an endorsement on the petition shows that this plea was accepted.He also petitioned to be cleared of liability for a sum of £100 given to him by the late King Edward II, during the conflict which led toKing Edward'sfinal downfall in 1327, to pay the wages of the soldiersat Gloucester, on the ground that he could produce no written evidence as to whetheror not the wages had actually been paid, since he had given the money toone Simon de Reading.
In 1346, in consideration of his good service, King Edward III appointed him Master of the Rolls in Ireland; he served until about 1350 when he returned to England to becomethe parish priest ofBrixham, Devon. The Patent Rollsfor 1349 record a debt of forty shillings owed to him by Williamde Wode, which wasto be levied in Northampton.