Cocks, William Alfred

Born in Ryton (Co. Durham); A master clock maker by trade, he worked in the 1920s with James Robertson of Edinburgh to produce a remodelled version of the half long bagpipe; Having started to collect bagpipes during the "Great War" (1914-1918), he was the founder of the Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum collection; Soon after 1918 he started making bagpipes, as well (➺ George Grey Armstrong), being one of the three 20th century makers who turned out new sets in any numbers before the early 1970s (➺ Jack Armstrong and Bill Hedworth); He also renovated many old sets and was (co-) author of some publications; NB: ➺ Thomas Todd.