William Man was born in 1778 at Reading, Berkshire, the second son of John and Sarah (Baker) Man, and was baptized on 17 June at St Mary the Virgin, Reading. 

He married Elizabeth Marchant on 27 February 1861 at the Register's Office, Ventnor, Isle of Wight. 

William died on 23 May 1874 at Prospect Street, Reading, and was buried on 29 May at the Reading Cemetery (see picture below). He left a WILL [<--- in PDF].

Elizabeth was born in the second quarter of the year 1839 in the parish of St. George-the-Martyr, Southwark, Surrey.

William and Elizabeth belong to Generation Four; their child belongs to Generation Five and is:

1. ELIZABETH MARCHANT

William's widow remarried a William Agnew Martel on 15 October 1874 at Lambeth, Surrey. William Martel and Elizabeth had one child: Mary Agnew Martel, born in 1876 at Great Yarmouth. William Martel died on 21 July 1877 at Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, at age 37.

[References: William's baptism - FHL Film # 1040614; his marriage - copy of marriage certificate; his death from a Statutory Oath; his burial - copy of his burial record (<--- PDF);  Elizabeth's place and time of birth - GRO Index of births; date and place of her remarriage and William Martel's death - from a Requisition on Title, dated 1886; Elizabeth Marchant's place and time of birth - GRO Index of births; her baptism - FHL Film # 1040618; Mary's place and time of birth - GRO Index for births.]

William Man's daughter has been found on the 1901 census living unmarried with her twice widowed mother.  Her half sister, Mary Agnew Martel, has also been found on the 1901 census.  See also William Man's Letter to Edward G. Man

In 1807 William went into partnership with John Snare to form the publishing company Snare and Man of Reading. He also appears for a few years in Piggots Directory for Berkshire.  Snare and Man published the following:
 

1. 1807: Gleed, George. Two sermons preached to the young gentlemen of Reading School: At their evening lecture.
2. 1809: Wood, T. Christ exalted & gentiles saved: A sermon, preached at Salem Chapel, Minster-Street, Reading, Nov. 13, 1808 by T.
   Wood. ( "Published by desire of the congregation.")
3. 1810: Coates, Charles, A supplement to The history and antiquities of Reading, with corrections and additions by the author.
4. 1810:  Roberts, A. W.  A collection of psalms and hymns: For the use of the parish church of St. Peter, in St. Albans, Hertfordshire 
5. 1810: Man, John. The stranger in Reading in a series of letters, from a traveller, to his friend in London
6. 1812:  Davies, Benjamin (Ed.). The deity of the Saviour: The riches of Christianity: A sermon preached at the Revd. A. Douglas's meeting, Reading, on the 1st of December, 1811. 
7. 1812:  Monck, John Berkeley. A letter to the Right Hon. Spencer Percival, on the present state of our currency with hints for its gradual improvement.
8. 1812: Purdy, Richard (1753-1808). Lectures on the church catechism, the church, the liturgy, and the Pentateuch.
9. 1813: Curties, Marianne. Classical pastime in a set of poetical enigmas, on the planets and zodiacal signs (Printed by Snare and Man in Reading and sold by J. Richardson in London).
10. 1816: Man, John. The History and Antiquities of Reading.
11. 1816: The glory and design of the sacred ordinance of believers baptism: Likewise the vanity and absurdity of the
    Popish institution of infant sprinkling, briefly considered; together with a few scriptural remarks of some ministerial
    characters, in a letter addressed to Mr. S. Parrott minister at Salem Chapel, Reading; in reply to a book lately
    published by him. This small pamphlet can be read here.
12. 1817: Weyland, John, (1774-1854). Three letters to the editor of the Christian Observer, on a review in the journal, of a work entitled the Principles of population & production, as they are affected by the progress of society, with a view to moral and political consequences. (Place: Reading, PUBLISHER: W. Man, Printer,) [Note this is the only item where William is on his own as publisher].

This is the spot in Reading Cemetery where William Man is buried.  As can be seen, there is no gravestone or other marking to indicate this fact, although his name appears on the index of graves which clearly indicates this to be the spot.  The cross to the right of where William is buried is the grave of Charles Marchant, William's brother-in-law.

William was still agent for the Globe Insurance Co in 1827.

According to the Reading Library and Museum Committee's minutes John Man's 'Anecdotes' and 'the three original copper plates for illustrating The Stranger' were donated in September 1902 by one C. B. Stevens. And in 1931 a plain 'Stevens' gave three prints from 'The Stranger'.  The copper plates can't be traced now. One would expect William, having described the Anecdotes as a 'family relique', to have tried to keep it in the family, but no relationship between the Man family and the Stevenses has been found.  A Dr. Joseph Stevens was first curator of the museum (1884), and George Stevens published directories in the 1880s and 90s. (communicated to the web site by Adam Sowan - Reading historian).