Christian William was born and died in Sondershausen, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. He was a son of Count Anton Günther I of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen and his wife Countess Palatine Maria Magdalene of Birkenfeld (1622–1689).

In 1666 he succeeded his father jointly with his brother Anton Günther II. In 1681, they divided the country and Anton Günther became Count of Schwarzburg-Arnstadt. On 3 September 1697, the brothers were raised to Imperial Princes by Emperor Leopold I. Anton Günther died in 1716 and Arnstadt fell back to Christian William.

He concluded a treaty of succession with his brother, in which the indivisibility of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was established and primogeniture would determine the succession. After Prince Louis Frederick I of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt joined the treaty in 1710, it was confirmed in 1719 by Emperor Charles VI.

During Christian Williams reign, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen broke away from the increasing dominance of the Electorate of Saxony. He renovated his Sondershausen Palace and reshaped it from a Renaissance style to a Baroque style. A cultural center in northern Thuringia was named after him.

In 1672, Christian Williams was engaged with the hymn poet Ludmilla Elisabeth of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, but she died unexpectedly later that year.

He married on 22 August 1673 Antonie Sybille (1641–1684), daughter of Count Albert Frederick I of Barby-Mühlingen, with whom he had the following children:

• Anton Albert (1674–1680)
• August William (1676–1690)
• Günther XLIII (1678–1740), who succeeded him as ruling Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen (1720–1740)
• Sophie Magdalene (1680–1751), married Count George Albert of Schönburg-Hartenstein (1673–1716)
• Christiane Emilie (1681–1751) married Duke Adolph Frederick II of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
• Albertine Louise (1682–1765)
• Antonie Sibille (1684)

Christian William married a second time in 1684, with Wilhelmine Christiane (1658–1712), daughter of the Duke John Ernest II of Saxe-Weimar, with whom he had the following children:

• Johanne Auguste (1686–1703)
• Christiane Wilhelmine (1688–1749)
• Henry XXXV (1689–1758), who succeeded his half-brother Günther as ruling Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen (1740–1758)
• August I (1691–1750), who also held the title of Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, but never ruled. His son was:
  • Christian Günther III, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen
• Ernestine Henriette (1692–1759)
• Rudolph (1695–1749)
• William II (1699–1762)
• Christian (1700–1749), who also held the title of Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, but never ruled; he married Sophie Christine Eberhardine, daughter of Lebrecht, Prince of Anhalt-Zeitz-Hoym

• Bernhard Anemüller (1876), "Christian Wilhelm I.", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 4, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 211–212
• Friedrich Apfelstedt: Heimathskunde für die Bewohner des Fürstenthums Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Part 3: Geschichte des Fürstlich-Schwarzburgischen Hauses, Eupel, Sondershausen, 1856 (reprinted: Donhof, Arnstadt, 1998, ISBN 3-86162-025-1)
• Friedrich Apfelstedt: Das Haus Kevernburg-Schwarzburg von seinem Ursprunge bis auf unsere Zeit, Bertram, Sondershausen, 1890 (reprinted: Thüringer Chronik-Verl. Müllerott, Arnstadt, 1996, ISBN 3-910132-29-4)