William Frederick Rock

On leaving school, Rock joined a bank in Bideford, but the job apparently did not suit him as he ran into trouble several times for composing verses at work.

Rock resigned and went to London, where another ex-parliamentary candidate for Barnstaple, Alderman Atkins, offered him a job at his bank.

The business that specialized on publishing topographical, steel-engraved prints on pictorial note paper, fancy stationery, maps and playing cards, as well as books and booklets,[2] prospered and Rock became a wealthy man.

With no wife or children to support, he decided to give generously to his birthplace, Barnstaple, and became engaged in multiple philanthropic activities.

[6] William Frederick Rock died at home in Hyde Cliff, Blackheath, Kent on 8 February 1890.