William Provost (Guilliame Provoost) (fl. 1556–1607) was a Protestant and a merchant who lived in Antwerp, then a city in the Netherlands. William's descendants settled in New Amsterdam (now known as New York (city)) in the early 1600s; he had famous descendants and relatives in North American history; and many North Americans can trace their lineage to William. William and his family appear to have survived the murderous rampage of the Spanish Fury in 1576. A version of William's life tells that he was a Huguenot that fled Paris on the day before the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of 1572. Name variants William Provost is his anglicized name and in records, William is variously referred to as Guilliame, Ghiliam, Gulliaem, Giljaem, Gutielmus, or Willem. Provost is also spelt, Prevoost, Provoost, Provoest, or the French form of Prévost. The life of William Provost William Provost "... was a merchant, and resided in the business quarter of [Antwerp]. He and his wife belonged to the then secret Protestant movement, and it seems that they attended the underground Reformed Church named "De Brabantsche Olijfbergh" [The Brabant's Mount of Olives], but to avoid the Inquisition, they, as was the custom with most Protestants in this region and time period, had their children baptized in the Roman Catholic Church of St Walburgis in their neighbourhood." (Confirmation, with minor additions and corrections, is presented in.) The St Walburgis' Catholic Church (known as Sint Walburgis Kerk in Antwerp) no longer exists. William Provost and his second wife, Maeijken Stevens, may have fled Antwerp in 1576 at the time of the Spanish Fury. However, this has not been confirmed. Indeed there are records for William Provost’s family in Antwerp up to 1584 (although no supporting evidence is given in that reference). Perhaps they fled and then returned. At some time William Provost and his family seem to have moved to nearby Middelburg in the Province of Zeeland. Unfortunately Middelburg's archives were destroyed during World War II. William Provost moved to Amsterdam around 1605 and he was still alive in 1607 when his daughter Katherina married. William's will, written in 1606, lists three of his children: Elijsabeth (deceased but whose child was alive), Katherina, and Wilhelmus. A version of William Provost's life There is a version of historical events that have been attributed to William. Although some aspects of this version are incorrect it is important to document this