Stanley was born in Bermondsey on 3rd August 1890. He was the only son of Andrew and Mary Ann Watson. However, he did have an older step-brother and step-sister. His Scottish-born father was a warehouseman, working for a wholesale drapery. The Watson family lived at 10, Sunnyside Road, Ilford.
He had attended Cleveland Road elementary school before joining Ilford County High School in July 1901. On 24th August 1903, Stanley was removed from the school. In the 1911 census, he was still recorded as living with his parents (in Lewisham). He was working as a bank clerk.
The school magazine, Chronicles, records Stanley as having been killed in its Spring 1917 edition. His rank was given as Captain and his regiment, the Royal Fusiliers. In fact, he had died on 28th November 1915, whilst serving with the 2nd Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers. He is buried in Bethune Town Cemetery.
Research by Andrew Emeny, History Teacher at ICHS
Sources:
Ancestry.com
ICHS school records and magazines
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Note
Ilford County High School started life as the Park Higher Grade School in 1901 in Balfour Road, Ilford. It was renamed Ilford County High School (or initially County High School, Ilford) in the years after the school’s management was transferred from Ilford School Board to Essex Education Committee in 1904.