Captain William Cornwallis Symonds (1 August 1810 – 23 November 1841) was a British Army officer who was prominent in the early colonisation of New Zealand. Symonds was born at Lymington, Hampshire in 1810, the eldest son of William Symonds, Surveyor of the Navy, who was a prominent member of the New Zealand Association. He was commissioned into the 38th Foot, promoted to the rank of lieutenant in 1832, transferred to the 74th Foot in 1835, and promoted Captain in 1838.