No birth registration found, not as either Eccleston or Whitehouse, with a mother’s maiden name of Eccleston and any year from 1861 to 1865.
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There is also a William Eccleston found in the 1871 census, born in Staffs in 1862, parents William, farming 20 acres, and Ann.
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His very probable baptism:

First name(s)           William Henry
Last name               Eccleston
Baptism year            1865
Baptism date            30 Apr 1865
Baptism place           Cannock, St Luke
Denomination            Anglican
Mother's first name(s)  Emma
County                  Staffordshire
Country                 England
Archive reference       D1054/1/4
Page                    219
Register type           Baptism
Record set              Staffordshire Baptisms

By good fortune I was also able to obtain a copy of the parish register page for this baptism.  This adds that their abode was Cheslyn Hay.
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Nothing more was initially found for him until his marriage in 1890.

In the 1891 census he and Lizzie had probably only recently set up home together at Park Street, Cannock, Staffordshire:

First name(s)  Last name  Relationship  Marital status  Sex  Age  Birth year  Occupation  Birth place
William H  Eccleston  Head  Married  Male    27  1864  Coal miner  Cheslyn Hay, Staffordshire
Lizzie J   Eccleston  Wife  Married  Female  21  1870  -           Great Wymondley, Staffordshire

Ref:
Archive reference  RG12
Piece number       2219
Folio              83
Page               22
Combined:          1891 ref: RG12, piece 2219, folio 83, p. 22
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See his son Albert Harold’s Notes for the this William in the 1901 and 1911 censuses.
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William’s naming through his life:

Please see his mother’s Notes for the struggle to identify her and him prior to his marriage in 1890.

From marriage William was always known as William Henry Eccleston.

At marriage he signed the register with a X so he would not have noticed that the cleric wrote his name as Iccleston.  And his marriage was accordingly indexed under that name.  The key to identifying this marriage was that his wife was Lizzie Jane was shown in the censuses as born in the next door village of Great Wyrley in c.1871.  This led to finding she was in the 1881 census in Gt Wyrley as Lizzie Jane Rainey and variously known as Rainey, Rooney and Rainy.  Searching for her marriage brought up this marriage with William Henry Icclesston.

Nothing earlier could be found for William Henry Eccleston apart from his baptism in 1865 in Cannock.  There was no corresponding birth registration and his mother was clearly stated on the baptism register as Emma Eccleston, single woman.

This led to an absolute wild goose chase for Emma Eccleston.  It eventually appeared that in 1865 she was no longer called Emma Eccleston but was Emma Whitehouse and had married John Whitehouse in the first quarter of 1865 in Walsall, Staffs.  The marriage certificate has been ordered to get the precise date, the place, the ages given for John and Emma and what name, if any, she gave for her father.  So at the time of William Henry’s baptism in April that year she was already married and had a second son George and who was baptised on the same day with the surname of Whitehouse and George’s parents were named on the register as John and Emma Whitehouse, all in the line immediately above that for William Henry.

So the boy named William Henry Eccleston joined the family of Emma and John Whitehouse and was named William Henry Whitehouse in the 1871 and 1881 censuses.  His mother could have covered up that his name had been Eccleston.  But she must have made it clear to him that that was his real name so that he used it when he married in 1890.  She also made it very clear that he had the second name of Henry which was included as an initial in the 1881 census but not in the 1871 census.  Certainly William seems always to have included his second name in all subsequent records.

Was his second name of Henry significant?  Sometimes single mothers used the second forename to indicate something of the father of their child (see the first son of Emma’s youngest son Francis Samuel Whitehouse).  I also think that it is as likely that his father was, in fact, John Whitehouse.  We will never know from surviving records, though there is a chance that a male line descendant of William Henry could be found and have a Y-DNA test and that might eventually reveal another male descendant line of any family that has the same Y-DNA.  That way his paternal ancestry could be indicated.

Historically we only have his maternal ancestry.  When I have received his mother’s marriage certificate, it may reveal her father and thus provide at least one more generation of his maternal ancestry, from the first half of the nineteenth century.
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His probable death index:

First name(s)  William H
Last name      Eccleston
Gender         Male
Birth year     1863
Age            65
Death quarter  4
Death year     1928
District       Cannock
County         Staffordshire
Volume         6B
Page           477
Country        England
Record set     England & Wales Deaths 1837-2007
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All of William Henry’s birth years

                TFPL findings                     |  Ancestry Findings in “Shropshire Roots” Tree
                                                  |
Document      Age       Birth year   Place        |  Age       Birth year     Place
                                                  |
Registration  (none)        -          -          |   0           1871        Penkridge district
Baptism        c.1      c.1864       Crannock     |   0           1871        Gt Wyrley
1871 census      7        1864       Cheslyn Hay  |   -             -           -
1881 census     18        1863       Cheslyn Hay  |   9           1872        Wyrley, Staffs
1891 census     27        1864       Cheslyn Hay  |  as TFPL
1901 census     37        1864       Cheslyn Hay  |  as TFPL
1911 census     44        1867       Cheslyn Hay  |  as TFPL
1928 death      65        1863       Cheslyn Hay  |  as TFPL  but stated W.H.E. died aged 57!
                                                  |            (to give a birth in 1871?)
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Note that I found this marriage on FindMypast’s site, done with a rough search on her name.  The reason why I had so much trouble finding his marriage is that the vicar had written his name as Icclestone and FindMyPast had correctly transcribed this but not set up any equivalence between Eccleston and Icclestone.  Who says we should learn to spell?

I unknowingly transcribed it as Eccleston as that was the name, stupid.  Only a few days later did I find this problem when I tried to re-examine FindMyPast’s records.
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FindMyPast have kindly provided the image of the parish register page, transcript by me:

“                     Page 66
“1890. Marriage solemnized at St Luke’s Church in the parish of Carnock in the County of Stafford
No:    131
Date:  Dec 22nd 1890

               His                            Hers
Name:          William Henry Eccleston        Lizzie Jane Rainey
Age:           27                             20
Condition:     Bachelor                       Spinster
Profession:    Miner                          -
Residence:     Bridgtown                      Bridgtown
Father:        -                              Thomas Rainey
Father’s job:  -                              Pudler

Narried in the Parish Church according to the Rites and Ceremonies
of the Established Church after Banns by me: T J Norris

This Marriage was solemnized between us [sgnd]: X The Mark of William Henry Eccleston  Lizzie Jane Rainey
In the Presence of us: William Rainey  Nellie Evans
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The banns show a possible complete failure of communication between Groom-to-be and cleric on his surname:

First name(s)           Lizzie Jane
Last name               Rainy
Denomination            Anglican
Residence               Cannock
Banns year              1890
Marriage year           1890
Marriage date           22 Dec 1890
Spouse's first name(s)  William Henry
Spouse's last name      Inlestow
Spouse's residence      Cannock
Place                   Cannock, St Luke
County                  Staffordshire
Country                 England
Archive reference       D1054/1/36
Page                    45
Register type           Banns
Record set              Staffordshire Banns
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