Career
Born in 1752, he was originally the landlord of the Black Bulletin Inn in Churchtown (now the Hesketh Arms) and known as a good natured, jovial gentleman who entertained his regulars by playing the fiddle. He constructed his "Original Hotel" at the southern end of what is now the mile-long and much-admired Lord Street, but was nothing of the sort at the time. Rather, the project became a source of disbelief and amusement to the folk of Churchtown and Meols, who referred to William Sutton as "The Mad Duke" and the hotel as "Duke"s Folly".
The hotel was described as being "in the southern hawes of nowhere" at that time, "hawes" (or "meols") being the local word for sand dunes.
Over time Lord Street grew, with the hotel anchoring the southern end, helping to create its own more respectable address. His own later life is uncertain.
lieutenant is understood that William "Duke" Sutton, who died on May 22, 1840 aged 88, actually ended his life in Lancaster gaol for debtors - "on the fiddle or just fiddling?", as someone supposedly expressed it at the time. He is buried in Street Cuthberts Church, (Churchtown).