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William McCraney (1831-1911) was a son of Hiram McCraney (1801-1878), and the father of James McCraney. He lived on 124 Chisholm Street.

William was a lumber dealer in Oakville throughout his life. He was one of the leaders of the Oakville Reformers (i.e., not a member of the Conservative Party) along with W. H. Young. In 1864 he owned and ran his father's sawmill along The Sixteen, on Mount Farm.

In 1870, he bought the steam sawmill previously owned by Thompson Smith.

In April of the same year, the sawmill and its surrounding lumberyard burned down. The townspeople decided to build another sawmill in the same location for William McCraney.

In 1877, he owned another sawmill at Bronte and in 1878, he sold his Oakville property to Pharis Doty.

He served several terms as Member for Halton in the Dominion Parliament and was seen as the leader of Oakville's Grits.