William Alfred Cocks (1892-1971) was a master clock maker from Ryton, near

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. He had a lifelong interest in the history and culture of the North-east of England, and particularly in the

Northumbrian smallpipes The Northumbrian smallpipes (also known as the Northumbrian pipes) are bellows-blown bagpipes from North East England, where they have been an important factor in the local musical culture for more than 250 years. The family of the Duke of N ...

and half-long pipes. He assembled a large collection of historic bagpipes, their music, and related materials, which forms the core of the collection now housed at the

Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum The Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum is located in Morpeth Chantry, Morpeth, Northumberland, England. The museum, founded in 1987, contains a large collection of historic bagpipes, especially, but not exclusively, historic Northumbrian smallpipe ...

. He was elected to the

Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne The Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, the oldest provincial antiquarian society in England, was founded in 1813. It is a registered charity under English law. It has had a long-standing interest in the archaeology of the north-east ...

in 1920, remaining a member until his death. In 1928, he was one of the earliest members of the

Northumbrian Pipers' Society The Northumbrian Pipers' Society was founded to promote both types of Northumbrian bagpipes – the Northumbrian smallpipes and the half-long pipes, now generally known as the Border pipes. There had been several attempts to encourage the pipes a ...

, being elected one of the technical advisers, with responsibility for smallpipes. He became a Vice-President of the Society in 1938. When an exhibition of historic pipes was held in the Black Gate Museum in 1961, most of the exhibits were from Cocks's collection. He was a pipemaker and author: his ''Tutor For The Northumberland Half Long Pipes'' was published by the Oxford University Press in 1925, ''The Northumbrian Bagpipes: their development and makers'' was published by the Northumbrian Pipers' Society in 1933. Later, in his life, together with J.F. Bryan, he wrote a detailed book of instructions for pipemaking ''The Northumbrian Bagpipes'', which was published by the Northumbrian Pipers' Society in 1967. The latter book, in particular, played a large part in promoting the revival of pipemaking. He corresponded widely about the pipes, in particular with the organologist

Anthony Baines Anthony Cuthbert Baines (1912–1997) was an English organologist who produced a wide variety of works on the history of musical instruments, and was a founding member of the Galpin Society. He attended Westminster School and then read for a deg ...

about historic instruments and with the piper

Tom Clough Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in '' Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

on playing style. On his death, the bagpipe collection, books, music manuscripts and photographs were left to the Society of Antiquaries; they were at first housed in the Black Gate Museum, but moved to the

in 1987. The collection is a major resource for the study of Northumbrian pipes, their music, and history.

Bibliography

*
A Tutor for the Northumberland Half-Long Bagpipes
', 1925, Oxford University Press * The Northumbrian Bagpipes: Their Development and Makers, 1933, Northumbrian Pipers' Society * The Northumbrian Bagpipes, with J.F. Bryan, 1967, Northumbrian Pipers' Society

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cocks, William Alfred 1892 births 1971 deaths Players of Northumbrian smallpipes People from Ryton, Tyne and Wear Bagpipe makers