The picture at left shows William as a younger boy. The second one shows him as an older man with his wife Janet Hudson and five of his grown up children including my grandfather Arnold Crossley dressed in army uniform.
William was born on the Sixth of May, 1864 at 75 Smith St. Rochdale, the son of Robert Crossley and Margaret Butterworth. By the age of six, he became an orphan and was raised by his uncle, Ben Crossley. Ben used William's inheritance to purchase "The New Inn" in Elliott Street. When William grew up, he bought the pub off his Uncle and ran the business himself.
William Crossley detested his wife, Janet. So much so that he had a will drawn up completely excluding her. He had only had one person witness his signature and he required two. Their son Ben signed the will after his father's death, but the Soliciter somehow knew that it had only recently been signed and declared it to be invalid.
One story that my mum heard from a shoe shop owner in Drake St. when she was a young girl, was that his father (shoe shop owners) father used to drink at the New Inn. One day he came home wet through. His wife asked him what had happened and he replied " Janet & Bill were arguing - she through a beer at him and missed, and it hit me"
Being an orphan himself. William was always very charitable and was a regular donater to the local orphanage, Chadwick House?
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