 William Waterhouse was one of the co-founders of the British Double Reed Society in 1988 and was a member of the Society's Committee until his death in 2007.The "IDRS 2009", the annual conference of the International Double Reed Society in Birmingham, was dedicated to him and Evelyn Barbirolli.Gordon Jacob dedicated to him the "Suite for bassoon and string quartet", first performed at the Cheltenham Festival on 8 July 1969 together with Emanuel Hurwitz, Ivor McMahon, Cecil Aronowitz and Terence Weil, and the "Partita" for solo bassoon which Waterhouse premiered on 27 October 1977 in Wigmore Hall.