William Unwin Heygate (12 March 1825 - 2 March 1902) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament and Leicestershire politician.

Heygate was born on 12 March 1825, the second son of Sir William Heygate, 1st Baronet (1782-1844), Member of Parliament and Lord Mayor of London.^[1] He was educated at Eton College and Merton College, Oxford, where he was awarded a B. A. in 1847 and an M. A. in 1850.^[2] He became a pupil at Lincoln's Inn on 6 November 1846 and was called to the bar on 19 November 1850.^[1]

After unsuccessfully contesting Bridport in 1857, Heygate entered the Parliament for the Conservative Party from Leicester in 1861, but was defeated in the 1865 General election. He returned briefly as a member from Stamford in a by-election in 1868 (the constituency was abolished later the same year), and was again elected for South Leicestershire in 1870, serving until he stepped down in 1880.^[3]

Heygate was a prominent politician in Leicestershire. He was an Alderman of Leicestershire County Council, a Justice of the peace and a Deputy Lieutenant of the county. In business, he was Chairman of Pare′s Leicestershire Banking Company, a director of the Midland Railway, and of the Canada Company.^[3]

Heygate died at the Hotel Burlington, in Dover, 2 March 1902.^[3]

Heygate married, Constance Mary Beaumont, daughter of Sir George Beaumont, on 6 July 1852.^[4] The couple had four children:^[5]

• William Howley Beaumont Heygate (20 May 1854 – 21 September 1928)
• Reginald Beaumont Heygate (10 October 1857 – 5 January 1903)^[6]
• Mary Florence Heygate (16 January 1861 – 1 July 1929)
• Harry Beaumont Heygate (8 Feb 1872 – 20 July 1897)