William Christian, known as Illiam Dhone ("Brown William," for the colour of his hair), was born on 14 April 1608 at Ronaldsway, near Castletown in the parish of Kirk Malew. He was the third surviving and youngest legitimate son of Deemster Ewan Christian and Katherine Harrison. The Christians were one of the most prominent families on the Isle of Man, seated at Milntown in the parish of Lezayre, with extensive landholdings across the Island including properties in Sulby, Ewanrigg and Loughmallow. Christian also held property in England: an estate at Sparth near Accrington in Lancashire, purchased for £900, which included lands in Sparth, Clayton, Harwood and Rishton, together with household goods and coalpits. He married Elizabeth Cockshutt, daughter of George Cockshutt of Great Harwood in Lancashire, c.1632. She brought a dowry of £600. In 1637 he placed the Sparth estate in trust with Roger Nowell and Laurence Duxbury, settled on Elizabeth and then to his sons in order. They had ten children: nine sons (Ewan, who died in infancy; George, the eldest surviving son who inherited Ronaldsway; William; a second Ewan; James; John; Thomas; Patricius; and Charles) and one daughter (Mary). The Christians had provided Deemsters since 1408.

Christian was appointed Governor and Receiver-General by James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby - the only Manx-born person ever to hold the title of Governor. He also served as commander of the insular infantry under Sir Philip Musgrave.

In 1651, following the Earl's departure for the mainland and his subsequent capture after the Battle of Worcester, Parliamentary forces under Colonel Duckenfield approached the Island. Christian summoned the Captains of the Parishes, and approximately 800 men from seventeen parishes assembled at Ronaldsway. They seized the coastal forts and took Peel Castle. Christian cooperated with the Parliamentary fleet on its arrival. Nobody died. The sole condition he demanded was "that they might enjoy their laws and liberties as formerly they had" - the right to hold their land under the old customary tenure. Charlotte de la Trémoille, besieged in Peel Castle, negotiated her own terms with Duckenfield separately. The two surrenders were independent.

Under Parliamentary rule, Christian continued to serve as Receiver-General under Lord Fairfax's lordship and then under Governor James Chaloner. Accusations of financial irregularities accumulated against him, and in June 1659 he secretly left the Island without the Governor's knowledge and crossed to Lancashire. Chaloner immediately sequestered Christian's Manx estates and suspended his brothers: Deemster John Christian was confined to his house within half a mile, and Edward Christian, only recently released from his long imprisonment under the Stanleys, found himself once again under restriction. Christian went to his estate at Sparth, where he tended his coalpits and rents while events on the Island and in England moved towards the Restoration. He consulted London lawyers before eventually returning to the Island.

At the Restoration, Charles Stanley, 8th Earl of Derby, moved against Christian. Seven members of the House of Keys were displaced by the Earl's order and replaced with men considered more submissive. The indictment was returned on 14 November 1662 by six men - three soldiers and three husbandmen - drawn from the garrison at Castle Rushen. They were not Manx. The charge was treason "for his insurrection and treacherie against the right honourable the Countesse Dowager of Derby." Christian refused to come to the bar, relying on the Act of Indemnity of August 1660 as his legal defence. No trial jury was empanelled. No evidence was heard. No witnesses were called. Deemster Norris sat alone; Deemster John Christian did not appear, and Edward Christian, John's son, walked out rather than participate in the proceedings.

On 2 January 1663, Christian was taken from Castle Rushen and brought under guard along the coast road to Hango Hill, the ancient mound between Castletown and Derbyhaven. Blankets were spread on the grass beneath him. At his request a piece of white paper was given to him, which he pinned to his breast to direct the soldiers where to aim. After a short prayer he said, "Hit this, and you do your own and my work," and stretched forth his arms as the signal. He was shot through the heart. Only one soldier's shot took effect: that of William McCoull, who is reported to have been rewarded with a grant of land in the north of the Island.

The parish register of Kirk Malew recorded: "Mr. William Christian, of Ronaldsway, late Receiver, was shott to death att Hango Hill, the 2nd of January. He died most penitently and most curragiously, made a good end, prayed earnestly, made an excellent speech, and the next day was buried in the chancle of Malew."

After the execution, Christian's son George sent coded letters to a contact at the Three Anchors tavern in Milk Street, London, pursuing the family's appeal. On 15 July 1663, the Privy Council, sitting with the Lord Chief Justice and the Lord Chief Baron, heard the appeal and reversed the sentence of confiscation. The attainder itself stood for two hundred years until reversed by the Court of Tynwald in 1863. The Manx lament preserved the community's judgment: "She dty vaase, Illiam Dhone, ren brishey nyn gree" - "It is thy death, Brown William, that has broken our hearts."