William de Humez

William de Humez became Abbot of Westminster on 4th May 1214 and was buried in the south cloister of the Abbey. His worn effigy still remains. In 1752 this was moved from the centre part of the cloister to a position under the bench to preserve it.

He was a Norman by birth, prior of Frampton in Dorset and monk of Caen and was abbot at Westminster when Henry III laid the foundation of his new Lady Chapel in 1220. In 1222, just before the abbot's death, a dispute arose between the Abbey and the bishop of London and it was resolved that Westminster Abbey and the church of St Margaret Westminster was exempt from the jurisdiction of the bishop (this still applies today). John Flete, a monk who wrote a history of the Abbey wrote of him:

Sprung from Hume, William presided over this place: now he is inhumed in his grave.

William had a brother Anulph and a nephew Nicholas.