William Alfred Brocklebank

Mr William Alfred Brocklebank ¹ was born in Torver, Lancashire, England in early 1872.

He was the son of John Brocklebank (b. 1833) and Hannah Kellett (b. 1836), of Lancashire and Westmoreland respectively who had married in 1857. His father worked as a railway platelayer.

William's known siblings were: Mary Jane (b. 1857), Thomas (b. 1858), Henry (b. 1861), Isabella (b. 1867), John Kellett (b. 1868), Ellen Hannah (b. 1870), Margaret (b. 1874), Emily Kate (b. 1876), Betsey Dora Agnes (b. 1878) and Edith Alice (b. 1880).

The family appeared on the 1881 census living at Dalton Gate Crossing in Torver and were at the same address by the time of the 1891 census. William was absent at the time of the latter record and was listed as a lodger at Limestone Hall Crossing, Millom, Cumbria and he was described as an iron miner. He later left Lancashire and headed south, settling in Essex, appearing on the 1901 census living at Lilley Green, Great Waltham where he worked as a horse groom, later working at Sedgemere Stud, also in Great Waltham.

He was married in Essex in 1903 to Eleanor Mary Matthams (b. 1878 in Great Waltham) and the couple had two children: Phyllis (b. 1904) and William (b. 1906). The family later lived at Alpha Villa, Broomfield, Chelmsford.

William later moved to the USA to work, leaving around 1909, and he settled in Illinois where he obtained employment as a groom and he exhibited his firm's champion horses at shows, garnering many prizes. He returned home for a three month vacation in early 1912.

For his return to the USA William boarded the Titanic in Southampton on 10 April 1912 as a third class passenger (ticket number 364512 which cost £8, 1s).

William Brocklebank died in the sinking. His body, if recovered, was never identified. His estate, worth £101, was administered to his widow on 12 October 1912.

His widow Eleanor never remarried and later moved to Cheltenham, Gloucestershire where she died on 12 October 1928.