William was born on 8th October 1891. His parents were both teachers and the family lived at 233 Balfour Road.
His school records show that he was the tenth student registered for the newly opened Ilford County High School on 1st September 1904. He had previously attended Christchurch Road School. Whilst at the school, he passed the Oxford Juniors Local and Mathematics Stage II examinations). In addition, he achieved 2nd class honours for Freehand and Model examinations. He left the school in July 1909 in order to take up a post as a student teacher.
In the 1911 census, aged 19, William was one of 132 students training to be a teacher at Borough Road Training College in Isleworth, Middlesex.
He served as a Rifleman (No. 2258) in the 5th Battalion of the London Rifle Brigade. William enlisted on 2nd June 1915 and arrived in France and Flanders on 10th November of that year. He was attached to the Machine Gun Section. He was wounded in February 1916, but soon recovered and rejoined his regiment on 1st May. He was killed in action at Gommecourt during the Battle of the Somme on 1st July 1916. He was killed by a shell and buried at Hebuterne.
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.