William Taylor Rooks

William (Bill) Taylor Rooks was born in 1845, the eldest child and first son of Joseph and Jane (nee Taylor) Rooks. He married Ellen (surname unknown) probably in London and seems to have had two sons with her. After he death he married Elizabeth (Betsy) WENHAM in 1870 and had a further nine children. The first three children of this marriage were born in north London and the family moved back to Castle Camps about 1878 where the remainder were born. Bill is variously described as an agricultural labourer (1881) and a woodman (1891) but it is known that later in life the couple were publicans of "The Poplars" at Camps End. Bill died in 1921 aged 76 years, and Betsy in 1933 aged 86 years.