William Ambrose Laws
William Ambrose Laws was one of the brothers of my great-grandmother, Lavinia Jane Bennett Laws, later Merrin.
Bill was born in 1886 in Campbelltown in Sydney. His father, Charles Laws held the licence for the Royal Hotel. He was the ninth of twelve children born to Charles and his wife, Mary Ann.
Uncle Bill, as my father called him, seems to have been fond of his niece, my grandmother Noreen, and her young son as Dad remembers seeing quite a bit of him and his wife, Aunty Ag, when he - Dad - was a child.
Bill was a barber, with premises at 53 Layton Street, Camperdown between 1943 and 1957 [1]. Between 1955 and 1958, he also seems to have had premises at 53 Church Street, Camperdown [2].
Marriage and Children
Bill married Agnes Elizabeth Lafferty in Sydney in 1916 (NSW BDM 5358/1916) but it seems that the two may not have had any children. I was only able to check NSW BDM 1914-1923 however there are no children mentioned on the headstone he shares with his wife and he left his property at Narrabeen to a nephew and niece who were also his executors.
Death and Burial
Bill died on 11 March 1958 (NSW BDM 7430/1958) and is buried at Rookwood Cemetery in Grave M1*C*705. His wife, Agnes, had died the previous year.
My grandmother, Noreen Bent, was named as one of Bill's executors and a beneficiary of his will, along with one of her cousins, Reginald Charles Saunders. On 17 March 1961, Noreen received £1675.11.5 from the estate, being half the proceeds from the sale of Bill's property at 11 Tourmaline Street in Narrabeen. In 2023, this sum is approximately equal to $54,500.
References
[1] Barbers Shop Licence Card: https://archives.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/nodes/view/937403
[2] Barbers Shop Licence Card: https://archives.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/nodes/view/937864
[2] Barbers Shop Licence Card: https://archives.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/nodes/view/937864