William was 26, a farmer’s son from Ednaston who had worked on his father’s farm and as a labourer with a neighbour so he was an experienced farmer. He lived with his unmarried sister Mary and two cattlemen, Percy Withering (aged 23) and Frank Bull (aged 17). In 1905 Mary married Charles Hancock of Brailsford and moved out. William married Annie in 1907.

By 1911, William Yates is 36. He and Ann (27) have a daughter, Margaret (aged 3). There are 3 servants living in the house with them: William Hawksworth (25) a waggoner, Arthur Bishop (21), a cowman and Marie Jolloy (17), a general domestic.

The Yates family lived at Park Farm for 20 years. Their daughter Margaret married Samuel Crowther in 1936In 1921, the farm was sold by the Church Commissioners to George Thums, a farmer and butcher from the village. The Yates family had to move out and there are newspaper advertisements for the sale of their stock: 42 cattle, 7 horses, 10 sheep and some poultry. William was only in his mid-40s and may have moved back to his father’s farm in Ednaston.