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William Bristol (June 2, 1779 – March 7, 1836) was a Mayor of New Haven, Connecticut, and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut.

Born on June 2, 1779, in Hamden, Connecticut,^[1] Bristol graduated from Yale University in 1798 and read law in 1800,^[1] with David Daggett.^{[citation needed]} He entered private practice in New Haven starting in 1800.^[1] He was United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut starting in 1812.^[1] He was a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1817.^[1] He was a member of the Connecticut Senate from 1818 to 1819.^[1] He was an alderman for New Haven in 1818, 1821, and 1826.^[1] He was a Judge of the Connecticut Superior Court and justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors (now the Connecticut Supreme Court) from 1819 to 1826.^[1] He was the mayor of New Haven in 1827.^[1]

Bristol was nominated by President John Quincy Adams on May 15, 1826, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut vacated by Judge Pierpont Edwards.^[1] He was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 22, 1826, and received his commission the same day.^[1] His service terminated on March 7, 1836, due to his death in New Haven.^[1] He was interred in Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven.^{[citation needed]}

Bristol married Sarah Edwards of New Haven in New Haven, on January 6, 1805.^{[citation needed]} Sarah died on December 24, 1866, aged 86 years.^{[citation needed]}

• William Bristol at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.