active 1781-1788 William Chase

William Chase is a largely obscure figure, usually identified simply as "active 1781–1788." The clearest evidence that survives points to him as a bookseller in Norwich, England, with earlier catalogues also describing him as a bookseller there, including one in Cockey Lane in 1752.

He is best known as the compiler of The Norwich Directory; or, Gentlemen and Tradesmen's Assistant (1783). That directory lists principal inhabitants of Norwich along with addresses, occupations, and other practical local information, making it a valuable record of urban and commercial life in late eighteenth-century England.

Because so little biographical detail is firmly documented in the sources readily available online, Chase is remembered mainly through his publications rather than through a well-preserved personal story. Even so, his work has endured as a useful resource for readers interested in local history, bookselling, and the daily texture of Georgian Norwich.