William Sheldon (Irish politician)

{{Infobox officeholder

| image =

| office = Senator

| term_start = 14 December 1961

| term_end = 1 June 1973

| constituency = Nominated by the Taoiseach

| office1 = Teachta Dála

| term_start1 = June 1943

| term_end1 = October 1961

| constituency1 = Donegal East

| nationality = Irish

| party = Independent

| otherparty = Clann na Talmhan

| birth_date = {{birth date|1907|1|18|df=y}}

| birth_place = Derry, Ireland

| death_date = {{death date and age|1999|11|1|1907|1|18|df=y}}

| death_place = County Donegal, Ireland

| alma_mater = Queen's University Belfast

| education = Foyle College

| spouse = {{marriage|Margaret Whyte|1942}}

| children =

}}

William Alexander Watson Sheldon (18 January 1907 – 1 November 1999) was an Irish politician and farmer. From a protestant background, he was elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1943 general election as a Clann na Talmhan Teachta Dála (TD) for the Donegal East constituency.{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/William-Alexander-Sheldon.D.1943-07-01/|title=William Sheldon|work=Oireachtas Members Database|access-date=9 April 2009}} He was re-elected as an independent TD at the 1944, 1948, 1951, 1954 and 1957 general elections.{{cite web|url=http://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=2020|title=William Sheldon|work=ElectionsIreland.org|access-date=9 April 2009}} He did not contest the 1961 general election.{{cite web|url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/sheldon-william-alexander-watson-a8033|title=Sheldon, William Alexander Watson|work=Dictionary of Irish Biography|last=Murphy|first=Angela|access-date=22 April 2024}}

When tributes were paid to him in the Seanad after his death, it was said that this was because the constituency was reduced from 4 to 3 seats.{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/seanad/1999-11-03/2/|title=Seanad Éireann – Volume 160 – 3 November 1999 – Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy|work=House of the Oireachtas|access-date=17 October 2020}}{{efn|The four-seat Donegal East was abolished and the three-seat Donegal North-East was created.}} In 1961, he was nominated by the Taoiseach, Seán Lemass to the 10th Seanad. He was re-nominated to the Seanad in 1965 and 1969, and he retired from politics in 1973. He was also a member of Donegal County Council from 1945 to 1955.