Charley, William (1826–90), linen bleacher, was born 11 April 1826, second of three sons of William Charley, a prominent linen bleacher, and Isabella Charley (née Hunter) of Seymour Hill, near Dunmurry, Co. Antrim. His father, one of the founders of the Northern Banking Company of Belfast, died (1838) after falling into the hold of a ship en route from Liverpool. Charley originally intended to become a barrister, but in 1843 he succeeded his elder brother as head of the company, and in 1851, noted for his expertise on the linen industry, he was selected to be a juror for the Great Exhibition. In 1862, at the request of the Royal Society of Arts, he published Flax and its products, a useful descriptive handbook, used for years in technical education. He was ‘an ardent tory’, keenly interested in agriculture and in improving livestock breeding; he introduced shorthorn cows and Suffolk draught horses into Co. Antrim. On 21 September 1854 Charley was one of eight men who met to found the North Eastern Agricultural Association of Ireland, which later became the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society. He and a Dr Duffield organised its first show in one of Charley's fields at Seymour Hill; Charley owned over 1,000 acres, including all of the Black Mountain above Belfast. He was a prominent Church of Ireland layman, and instrumental in the rebuilding of Derriaghy church. He died 30 September 1890.
Charley married (1 October 1856) Ellen Anna Matilda Johnson (d. February 1890) of Ballymacash, Lisburn; they had five daughters and six sons. His youngest daughter, Maude Baily, died on active service with the VAD in Italy, September 1918. A son, Harold R. Charley (d. 1956), was a colonel in the British army and prominent in public life; another son, Edward Johnston Charley (1859–1932), was a well known businessman, unionist, member of the Orange Order, and freemason.