[3] As an adult he was 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m) tall and weighed more than forty stone (560 pounds, 254 kg).

[iii] Puddling is a skilled and extremely strenuous job, requiring great physical strength.

'Big Billy Ball' was immensely strong, on one occasion reputedly lifting a piece of iron weighing nearly 9 long hundredweight (460 kg; 1,000 lb) to place under the forge hammer.

[4] After he left the ironworks he exhibited himself around county fairs as "The Largest Man in Britain", appearing under the pseudonym 'John Bull'.

He was chosen to lead this procession on horseback, along with 'Little Bennie Poole', the smallest man working at the Coalbrookdale Company, riding a pony.

[5] On his death, he had to be taken from his home in Sandy Bank Row, Horsehay by removing a window and the surrounding brickwork.

Although the funeral at St Luke's Church in Doseley was attended by a large crowd, he was buried in an unmarked grave.