William Alfred Freret, Sr. (1804 – June 14, 1864) was Mayor of New Orleans from May 10, 1840, to April 4, 1842, and again from February 27, 1843, to May 12, 1844. He was born in New Orleans, and was of mixed English and French descent; his father was an English merchant who settled in New Orleans and married a Creole woman. His father built on the boy's natural mechanical talent, sending him to Europe to be educated in engineering and the mechanical arts. He returned to New Orleans and eventually succeeded to his father's business of compressing cotton for shipment abroad. Under his direction, the Freret Cotton Press Company became the first large industrial firm in New Orleans, and propelled him to public visibility and a political career. Despite his mixed European heritage, he joined th