Sir William Ashbee Tritton, M.I.Mech.E., J.P. (born 1875, London; died September 1946, Lincoln) was an expert in agricultural machinery, and was directly involved, together with Major Walter Gordon Wilson, in the development of the tank. Early in the First World War he was asked to produce tractors for moving heavy howitzers, the result being eventually the first tanks. He was the son of a London stockbroker, educated at Christ's College Finchley and King's College London. In 1906 he joined William Foster & Co. Ltd in Lincoln, and from 1911 until 1939, he was chairman of the company, after which he became managing director.