William Mungo Jacob (known as Bill) (born 15 November 1944) is a retired Anglican priest, who was Archdeacon of Charing Cross from 1996 to 2014.^[1]

Jacob was born in 1944.^[2] He was educated at the University of Hull (LLB, 1996), Linacre College, Oxford (BA, 1969; MA, 1973) and the University of Exeter (PhD).^[3]

Jacob trained for ordination at St Stephen's House, Oxford, and was ordained deacon in 1970 and priest in 1971.^[4]

He served his title at Wymondham Abbey (1970-1973), after which he was Assistant Chaplain to the Bishop of Exeter (1973-1975), on the staff of Wells Theological College (1975-1980), and Selection Secretary for the Advisory Council for the Church's Ministry (1980-1986).^[5][6] He was then Warden of Lincoln Theological College (1985-1996) and a Canon of Lincoln Cathedral (1986-1996).^[7] After the closure of Lincoln Theological College in 1995, he was collated as Archdeacon of Charing Cross in 1996, serving in that role until 2014.^[8][9] That period overlapped with being the Bishop of London’s Senior Chaplain (1996-2000) and Rector of St Giles in the Fields (2000-2015) and Priest-in-Charge of St Anne's Church, Soho (2011-2013).^[10] He retired in 2015, and has held a Permission to officiate in London and Norwich.^[11]

Jacob is the author of Lay People and Religion in the Early Eighteenth Century (Cambridge University Press: 1996), The Clerical Profession in the Long Eighteenth Century, 1680-1840 (OUP: 2007)^[12] and Religious Vitality in Victorian London (OUP: 2021).

Jacob is a director of the Historic Chapels Trust,^[13] the Society of the Faith^[14][15] and the Paddington Development Trust.^[16][17] He is president (2021-2022) of the Chapels Society, an amenity society for Non-Conformist chapels.^[18][19]