William was the ninth child in his family. His parents had come to New Zealand with their parents with the first wave of settlers from England. His father and grandfather were tailors, but William served an apprenticeship with his older cousin to become a carpenter/builder.
In the early 1890s he had moved north from Kaikoura, first to Wellington and then to the Horowhenua where he me his young wife; the daughter of a carpenter. They raised a family of nine moving to the Waikato about 1910 after William had completed building the Levin Post Office. For a time, they farmed near Waihou before returning to live in Hamilton and briefly Auckland where William returned to his earlier career and built several houses.
In 1926
William was fifty-nine, the family home was in Firth Street, Hamilton East. His
siblings were spread far and wide across the country, none lived nearby. Three
of his daughters and his surviving son were married and he was now a
grandfather to seven grandchildren. William was also a great gardener spending
much of his spare time tending a large productive vegetable garden.
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