William Dickey removed to Belfast after the death of his father in 1641, possibly because of the Irish rebellion. He petitioned for and was granted relief for losses suffered during the rebellion. This petition, made in 1665, requested 10s. per week, the farm at Ballymena having been destroyed.

On June 11, 1667, William Dickey had a lease of a house and tenement at Castle Street, adjoining the tenement of John Awl or Auld. He rented quarters on High Lane in Belfast, where he was a linen draper August 3, 1689.

He was the first member of his family to be born in Northern Ireland . He was born in County Donegal , Ireland , but at some point in his life moved to County Antrim, Ireland. They moved to Dunboy, County Donegal, Ireland. County Donegal is at the most Northern tip of Ireland on the Western side of the Island. County Antrim , is one county over on the Eastern side of the Island. Just across the straight (Irish Sea), from both counties, is Scotland . William married Sarah McMurtry when he was thirty and she was twenty-one.

William Dickey was a linen draper by trade.

In October 1641 he leased his father's farm but it was destroyed in the rebellion that began that same month. He moved to Belfast by 1656 . William predeceased his wife, Sarah McMurtry, by three years. Her LWT 14 March 1696/97 mentions "little grandsons William ,George ,Thomas, Adam". These are sons of eldest son Thomas and wife Jane, formerly Awl .