William Alexander Ayton (28 April 1816 – 1 January 1909) was a British Anglican clergyman with an interest in alchemy. He was Vicar of Chacombe (in Northamptonshire) from 1873 to 1894. In 1894 he retired on a small pension, and he died at Saffron Walden (in Hertfordshire) in 1909.[1][2][3] He translated from Latin the life of John Dee written by Thomas Smith.[4]
He is generally thought to have been a member of the shadowy Society of Eight founded in 1883.[5] He became a member of the successor Order of the Golden Dawn.[6] He was a supporter of the reforms of Arthur Edward Waite, which split the Order as the Holy Order of the Golden Dawn and the Stella Matutina.
Ayton became a vegetarian in 1868 after visiting the family of his friend Joseph Wallace. Ayton converted to Wallace's dietary system.[7]