Born in Brighton, England on October 14, 1867 William Charles Frederick Gillam was a painter, etcher, architect, designer and illustrator. He emigrated to Vancouver, Canada in 1911 where he worked for an architecture firm for eleven years, designing several buildings in British Columbia. He paused briefly to work as a munitions inspector during World War I. In 1922 he relocated to Burlingame, California, USA, continuing his architecture business and exhibiting his artworks with the California Society of Etchers, the Palo Alto Art Club, and the Berkeley League of Fine Arts. In 1930 he was awarded a special prize at the California State Fair.

He designed the official bookplate for the Burlingame Library and his work is represented in the Sacramento State and Burlingame Libraries, as well as collections throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, England, and Vancouver, B.C. He died on February 10, 1962 in Sonoma County, Calfornia.

Selected exhibitions: Oakland Art Gallery, 1928; California State Fair, 1930 (prize); Covent Gallery, Los Angeles, 1934, among others. His work is held in the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.