William Cocker
Birth date9 December 1836
Death date14 April 1911 (aged 74)
SpouseBetsey Pilling (m. 1858)

William Henry Cocker (9 December 1836 – 14 April 1911) was the first mayor of Blackpool, Lancashire, England, serving, in his initial term, from 1876 to 1879.[1] He served again from 1884 to 1885 and from 1886 to 1887. He was selected as the first Freeman of the Borough in 1897.[2][3] Cocker was noted for taking Blackpool from a "small coastal village into a major tourist destination,"[4][5] and has been called a founding father of Victorian Blackpool.[6]

Early life

Cocker was born in 1836 to John Cocker and Jane Banks, daughter of Henry Banks, in a house his father had built in Hygiene Terrace on Blackpool Promenade. His father had moved to Blackpool from Tockholes, near Darwen in east Lancashire, in 1828.[7] William was educated at Preston Grammar School.[8]

Cocker became a close friend of John Bickerstaffe, who went on to become another important figure in Blackpool's development.[9]

In 1858, he married Betsey Pilling, a native of Rochdale.[7]

Career

Cocker retired from his career as a surgeon in 1875. Two years earlier,[10] he had opened a menagerie and aquarium in Blackpool's Prince of Wales Arcade, which later became the site of Blackpool Tower. The aquarium was incorporated into the tower building.[6]

Personal life

In 1878, Cocker laid the foundation stone of Blackpool's St John's Parish Church, and had donated £1,000 towards the cost of the church's construction.[11]

Death

Cocker died in 1911,[7] aged 74. Having survived his wife for three years,[7] he was interred alongside her, his parents, brother and sister-in-law in a small grassy burial ground at the eastern end of St John's Parish Church. He was also buried beside the tomb of noted Blackpool historian Reverend William Thornber. Having died a poor man, living in relative poverty in a house on Whitegate Drive,[7] there was no money to add an inscription to Cocker's marker.[2]

Legacy

The clock tower in Blackpool's Stanley Park is named for Cocker.[12] It was built in 1926 to honour his contributions to the town. John Bickerstaffe unveiled the clock.

Blackpool's Cocker Street is also named for him.[4] A portrait of Cocker, by an unknown artist, hangs in Blackpool Town Hall.[13]

References

  1. ^ Mayors of Blackpool – Blackpool Council
  2. ^ "Story of the man dubbed 'father of Blackpool'". Blackpool Gazette. 2016-01-25. Retrieved 2026-05-22.
  3. ^ Honorary freeman freedom of the borough and Blackpool Medal – Blackpool Council
  4. ^ Ed (2024-09-03). "The Impact of William Cocker". Blackpool Timeline. Retrieved 2026-05-22.
  5. ^ The Windsor Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly for Men and Women. Ward, Lock and Bowden, Limited. 1896. p. 399.
  6. ^ Jackson, Lee (2019-06-25). Palaces of Pleasure: From Music Halls to the Seaside to Football, How the Victorians Invented Mass Entertainment. Yale University Press. p. 206. ISBN 978-0-300-24509-7.
  7. ^ "Famous Blackpool People - Famous Blackpool People - - Blackpool Postcards". Retrieved 2026-05-22.
  8. ^ Tracy, William Burnett (1903). Lancashire at the opening of the twentieth century, by W.B. Tracy. Contemporary biographies, ed. by W.T. Pike. W. T. Pike. p. 164.
  9. ^ Lancashire Evening Post, 6 August 1930
  10. ^ "Closed collections - The Bartlett Society". Archived from the original on 4 April 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  11. ^ Blackpool Gazette (2007), pp. 16–17
  12. ^ "Blackpool clock tower revamp begins as part of £500k park works". www.bbc.com. 2026-05-19. Retrieved 2026-05-22.
  13. ^ Blackpool Town Hall – Art UK