William Mayhew was a medical practitioner in the Toodyay district of Western Australia. Mayhew was appointed medical officer for Toodyay in 1872 when the previous doctor, Arthur Edwardes Growse was transferred to Guildford. His original vocation was that of a teacher, and he and his wife Alicia had come to Western Australia to take up appointments in this profession. It is assumed that Mayhew had acquired his medical training in England before his arrival in Western Australia in 1867.