Career
William has had an extensive political career, he ran at least twice for the Canadian House of Commons in Sunbury electoral district as a Conservative being defeated both times in 1878 and 1882 in hotly contested and very close elections. Perley served in the House of Commons for a year before being appointed to the Canadian Senate on the advice of John A. Macdonald. He served as a Senator for the Northwest Territories, and then the province of Saskatchewan after it was created in 1905.
He died while still in office in 1909.