Sir William Matthews KCMG (8 March 1844 – 8 January 1922) was a British civil engineer. He was educated at Glenalmond College and King's College London. Matthews was born in Penzance to John and Alice Matthews. John Matthews was, at that time, the borough surveyor for Penzance. William spent a few years working for his father as an assistant surveyor before gaining work as chief assistant to John Coode. He was eventually made a partner in Coode's firm which became . His brother, Thomas Matthews, was from 1892 the Engineer-in-Chief of Trinity House, the British lighthouse authority.