William's parents had three other sons and one daughter that all died in their early infancy. He was their only surviving child. Despite his own wish to be a groom due to his natural affinity with horses, his mother was determined that he would one দিন be a butler and so he became a footman to please her.

Series one
William's general disposition was kind, easy-going and generally acquiescent, which usually allowed Thomas, the first footman, to push him around and do most of the work for footmen in the household. He was known to play the পিয়ানো in the servants' hall during their downtime in the...