Pte 50646 William Wilson

• Age: 28
• From: Lancaster
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 17th Btn
• K.I.A Thursday 9th May 1918
• Commemorated at: Tyne Cot Memorial
  Panel Ref: Panel 31-34

All we can know for sure is that William Wilson married Polly Sharples in March 1917, in St. Wilfred’s Church, Halton, near Lancaster.  Polly was a cotton weaver, born in Halton, and living in Low Road, Halton, in 1911 with her mother and two sisters.  Unfortunately, the marriage certificate has not been found, which would have given us the name of his father. 

A search of census records reveals this William Wilson,  was born in Lancaster and living in Halton and is the most likely fit. 

William was born on 25th January 1890, the son of Edward Wilson and his wife Ellen (née Walling). They married in 1887 and had five children. William had an older brother George, and younger siblings Edith, Margaret, and Albert, all born in Lancaster. William was baptised in Christ Church, Lancaster, on 02nd March 1890, his parents’ residence given as 4 St. Peter’s Road, and his father’s occupation listed as overlooker. 

In 1891 the family, with two sons, is living at 74 Eastham Street, Lancaster.  His father is a cotton mill overlooker. William is 1 year old. 

By 1901 they have moved to Halton, about four miles north on the River Lune, and are living in Kirby Terrace.  His father, 33, is still working as an overlooker. (Messrs, Helme & Co. employed many in their Halton mill at the time.)  His mother is 32, and they have five children.  George, 13, also works at the cotton mill, as a twister.  William is 11, Edith 8, Margaret 5, and Albert 2.   

In 1911 they are still in Kirby Terrace, at no.24, and his father, 43, is still employed as an overlooker.  His mother is 41, the three children of working age are also employed in the cotton mill:  William, 21,  is a twirler, Edith, 18, and Margaret 15, are cotton weavers, and Albert is 12.

He enlisted in Lancaster, as Private 34520, Royal Lancaster Regiment.  At some point he was transferred to the 17th King’s Liverpool Regiment and was serving in the 17^th Battalion K.L.R. as Private No 50646 when he was killed in action on the 09^th May 1918 aged 28 during the German Spring Offensive.  

William has no known grave and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial. 

Those United Kingdom and New Zealand servicemen who died after August 16th 1917 are named on the Tyne Cot Memorial, a site which marks the furthest point reached by Commonwealth forces in Belgium until nearly the end of the war.

The Tyne Cot Memorial now bears the names of almost 35,000 officers and men whose graves are not known. The memorial, designed by Sir Herbert Baker with sculpture by Joseph Armitage and F.V. Blundstone, was unveiled by Sir Gilbert Dyett on 20 June 1927.

The memorial forms the north-eastern boundary of Tyne Cot Cemetery, which was established around a captured German blockhouse or pill-box used as an advanced dressing station.

Based on the amount of the War Gratuity, William enlisted in early 1917, around the time he was married. 

However, the Medal Roll shows only the 20th Bn, and 13th Bn K.L.R. (SDGW gives his  service number as 50649; no other records are found with this number for a Wilson.). It is possible that he was transferred from the 20th in February 1918 when the unit was disbanded in France. 

His widow Polly, Low Road, Halton, was awarded a pension of 13/9d a week, and received William’s Army effects, including a War Gratuity of £4. 

Polly appears to have remarried in 1927 and lived until 1980. 

William is commemorated on the following memorials -

St. Wilfred’s Church, Halton

Halton on Lune 

We currently have no further information on William Wilson, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.