His shopfront had a large open area adjacent to it, which he used to store his headstones and other carved monuments. With a picket fence facing the street, the effect was like a cemetery in the main street of Cessnock. In the early years of the 20th century it could truly be said that William Joseph Lane had a business which looked like it was in the 'dead heart of town'.

In 1920 Bill Lane was elected to council. Two years later he was disqualified on the basis that he had done business with council while a councillor, what we now call a conflict of interest. Bill stood aside, appealed the decision, was found not guilty and returned to council. He later resigned his seat, but was re-elected unopposed. Then he was out again as a Magistrate found him guilty of breaching the Local Government Act and fined him £50. Local citizens were outraged and started a defence fund, raising money to pay his fine.

Like many people, Bill Lane was deeply affected by the loss of local men's lives in World War I. Only one year into the war he used his skill as a stone mason to craft a stately grey marble honour roll with a decorated pediment and base, which was installed in the former Cessnock Shire Council building in 1915. It is still there over a century later. The memorial can be seen online on the NSW War Memorials Register: https://www.warmemorialsregister.nsw.gov.au.

Five years later he created a similar memorial for the Aberdare Methodist Church, determined to use his artisan skills to remember the carnage of war.

In 1923 he moved his stone masonry business to Allandale Road. Unusually for a former councillor, Bill built his new premises without a building permit, throwing him into hot water again with council.

William Joseph Lane died in 1947 and is buried in Cessnock Cemetery with a dignified black marble headstone which describes him as a 'stonemason of Cessnock'.