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 It was expected that William would join the family business when he grew up but the development of the railway ultimately changed the direction of his life.
He was eldest child of William George and Eliza, born 2nd February 1828 in Reigate, Surrey. William George and his younger brother Walter ran a hairdressing business together in Reigate until Walter married and moved to Dorking to set up his own business in the 1840s.
Both cricket and music featured in William’s childhood. William George played the violin and was the Reigate band bandmaster. Walter played several instruments including the piccolo. William himself learnt to play the coronet and the harp. At school William developed his cricketing skills playing with other boys during breaks between lessons. Whilst his father was a fair player it was William’s uncle Walter who showed skill at the game and was asked to represent Surrey on one occasion in 1844 in a match against Marylebone at Lords.
William moved on from school level cricket to play for Reigate Cricket Club as well as playing sometimes for Croydon. Eventually he was asked to play in a Players v Gentleman match at the Oval in 1849; his father was against him playing and refused to lend him the travel money. However William was able to borrow the money elsewhere and made it to the match. The Players must have been glad he made it as he made the top score of the match ahead of Julius Caesar.
His father continued to expect William to train as a hairdresser and he along with his brother James were groomed to take over the family business. However Williams playing schedule grew and he was spending less and less time in the shop.
In 1850 William was asked to join the All-England Eleven which had been formed by William Clarke in 1847. It was this team and the railway which transformed the state of English cricket. The railway made the country far more accessible; players could travel to matches and supporters could travel to matches far more easily and further than they could before. Williams continued to play for the All-England Eleven and was now travelling around the country to play matches as far apart as Sheffield, Canterbury and Glasgow.
In 1855 William accepted employment with Eton College (along with other well known cricket players of the day including Caesar and Pilch) as he was less than happy with William Clarke of the All-England Eleven. He continued to play for Surrey throughout the year including a match against the All-England Eleven which they lost by just one wicket.
Towards the end of the year William was asked to join the United Eleven which was a rival to the All-England Eleven. In 1857 he played in the first match between the two teams at Lords which was played in front 10,000 spectators - one of the best supported matches seen at the ground. The All-England team one, unfortunately Wiliam was injured during the match when he was hit in the ribs by a ball.
One of the highlights of Williams career was being part of the first England team to play in America.  William and the rest of the team left Liverpool aboard the Nova Scotia on the 7th September 1859. (The photograph shows them just before leaving England, William is second from the left.) They arrived in Canada two weeks later and played games in Montreal, New York, Philadelphia, Buffalo and Rochester. In New York they were met by huge crowds who followed them from their hotel to the match, cheering them all the way. They returned to England victorious having one all their matches. A few years later the success of this trip was followed up with another trip, this time to Australia. This was another popular trip, they were met in Melbourne by thousands of people who continued to follow them through out the trip, even to practise sessions. Their first match was played on New Years Day 1862 and over 15,000 people came by coach, by wagon, car, train and any conveyance they could find. The match lasted for four days and at the end a prize of £100 was given to the gentleman who had predicted William would be the top scorer in the match. They travelled around Australia and played many matches including one which was Surrey v The Rest of the World in which the six Surrey players in the England team were joined by five colonists who originated from Surrey and they played the remainder of their team aided by other colonists. Surrey won and William was again top scorer.
Back in England William continued to play for Surrey and the United Eleven but 1863 was to be his last season of first class cricket in England. At the end of the year William was back in Australian as part of the second England team visit. This time however when the tour was over William stayed behind in Melbourne having accepted a job with the Melbourne Cricket Club. William stayed in Australia for seven years. His English fiancee, Selina Williams travelled out to join him and they married in Melbourne. Aware that this playing days were coming to an end William and Selina moved to Sydney where he joined the Warwick Club to play cricket in addition to opening a hairdressing business which he ran with Selina.
His first child, Alice, was born in 1865 in Sydney followed by three sons. Williams followed the family tradition by naming his eldest son William but sadly William died in 1869. His second son Alfred also died in 1869 but a third son born 1870, Frederick, survived.
Having taught the Australias how to play cricket William returned to England in 1871 with his wife and two surviving children. They set up home in Reigate but after working at various schools William found work at Haileybury College in Hertfordshire and the family followed him there. As well as teaching cricket to the boys at the school William also continued to cut hair. Other children were born to William and Selina following their return home; Ellen,1874 in Redhill; Arthur, 1875 in Brighton; Gracey, 1881 in Hertford and Daisy, 18** also in Hertford.
He retired to Hertford where he wrote his autobiography at the age of 71yrs (appropriately titled ‘Seventy One Not Out’) but after his wife's death he returned to Reigate to live with his daughter Alice.
He died on the 28th August 1919 at the age of 91 years after spending an afternoon gardening.
On his death certificate under occupation it says 'master hairdresser'.
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