William was born on 19 April 1880, in Church Coppenhall. His parents were Hiram and Sarah and they had three other children, Margaret, John and Edith.
Hiram was a railway worker and moved to Moore sometime between 1881 and 1901. By 1911, the family had moved to Moss Lane Farm. Hiram continued to work on the railway and William was a plate layer. John and Margaret worked on the farm. It probably wasn’t very big, but we know that they ran a dairy business.
William was a sapper in the Royal Engineers, service numbers 290249 and 275238. Nothing more is known of his military service.
After the war, William returned to work on the railway and it seems that he never married. In 1939, he is recorded as living at Meadow Bank (a smallholding) with his brother John and his wife.
He died in 1950, aged 80.