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•    Born: 8 Sep 1841, Horsington, Lincs 484

•    Died: 21 Jun 1924 at age 82

•    Buried: Kirton Cemetery, Lincs

Source Beeston 

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William Dennis was born in Horsington, Lincolnshire on 8 September 1841, the third child, second son of William & Harriett (née Major). Like his father before him and generations of others in this area he started work on the land.

In William's case, as a lad, he riddled potatoes for just a few shillings in wages while always retaining the ambition for a better life - something that can only have intensified with the increased responsibilities of his marrage, in 1864, to Sarah Ann Whitworth, the daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (née Roberts). They went on to have nine children, with the seven surviving into adulthood going on to become important contributors to their father's eventual enormous success.

Source SLHA

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William spent little of his time in Horsington moving south to Kirton where he established W. Dennis & Sons., an historic agricultural and farming business. He also had premises in Covent Garden London.

 

Widely known across the region and in contemporary national newspapers as the "Potato King" and later memorialized with a bronze statue outside the town hall in Kirton.

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William owned large estates at Nocton (8,000 acres), Deeping St Nicholas (2,000 acres) and Kirton (2,000 acres). W. Dennis and Sons established their Nocton Estate in 1919 – the annual production in the 1950’s being some 17,000 tons of food, consisting primarily of potatoes.​ Smiths crisps were reliant on this source of potatoes.