William Gray
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
William Gray was the son of Richard Thomas Gray and his first wife Charlotte Gray (née Day). His father Richard was born in London in 1867 (bap. Piccadilly St James December 1867), the son of George Gray, a tailor, and his wife Ellen. The family was living in Battersea in 1891; Richard (23) was a tailor's trimmer. Richard married Charlotte Day in 1891 (reg. Wandsworth Surrey) and they had three children; Edith Annie b. 1892, William Richard b. 1894 and Florence b. who were born in Battersea. All three children were baptised including William on 8 April 1894 (Clapham Common, Surrey). Charlotte died in 1896 (reg. Wandsworth) aged 28. Richard married secondly Wilhelmina (Minnie) Caroline Noice (b. 1875) at Worthing St Paul, Sussex, in November 1900 (reg. East Preston, Sussex). Wilhelmina was the daughter of William Arthur and Caroline Noice. Her family was living in Broadwater, East Preston, in 1881 but Minnie (16) had left home by 1891 and was working as a general domestic servant. Richard and Minnie had six children: Elsie May b. 1901 (reg. Hambledon) and Hilda Margaret b. 1904, Olive Beryl birth registered 1906 (J/F/M), Richard Noah b. 1908 and Dorothy Caroline b. 1909 who were born in Lincoln, and George E. b. 1915 (reg. Basford). Richard, a tailor, Minnie and his three children Edith (9), William (7) and Florence (4) were living in Haslemere, Surrey, in 1901. They moved to Lincoln where their first child was born in 1904 and were still living in the city in 1909. However, by 1911 the family was living at 15 Lorne Grove, Woodborough Road, Nottingham: Richard, a tailor's cutter, Minnie, their five chldren May (9), Hilda (7), Beryl (5) Richard (2) and Dorothy (11m) and Richard's son William (17) who was a tailor's apprentice. Both of Richard's daughters by his first marriage were living in London in 1911. Edith Annie (19) was a parlourmaid at a house in Ecclestone Square, while Florence (14) was living with her maternal grandmother, Susanna Nelson (formerly Day) and unmarried aunt, Edith Day (40), in Battersea. Neither of the sisters married. Edith was working in Leeds in 1939 and died in Leeds in 1989. Florence was living in Battersea with her aunts Edith Day and Marion Nelson in 1939. Florence died in 1997. Richard and Minnie were recorded on the 1921 Census living in Derbyshire (original not sighted): Richard, Winnie, Elsie May 'and four others.' Richard snr. probably died in 1936 (reg. O/N/D Spilsby Lincolnshire). In 1939 when the England and Wales Register was compiled his widow Minnie [Wilhelmina Caroline] was living in Arnold, Nottingham, where she was employed as housekeeper to a lace curtain manufacturer. She died in 1960 (reg. Shardlow Derbyshire).
Sergeant William Gray MM enlisted at Nottingham. He served initially with the 11th Cavalry Reserve Regiment (No. 12957) but later transferred to 2nd Battalion Hampshire Regiment. The 2nd Battalion Hampshire Regiment returned to the UK from India in December 1914. The following year it served in Egypt and Gallipoli and was evacuated from Gallipoli to Egypt in January 1916. The battalion then deployed to the Western Front in March 1916. Wiliam died on 24 November 1917 of wounds received in action and is buried in Rocquingy-Equancourt Road British Cemetery, France (grave ref. II.E.10). The award of his Military Medal was published in the Supplement to The London Gazette, 6 January 1917: '16877 Pte (sic) W Gray Hamps. R.' CWGC - History of Rocguingy-Equancourt Road British Cemetery (extract): The cemetery lies between the two villages of Rocquigny and Equancourt just west of the crossing road from Etricourt to Ytres. 'Etricourt was occupied by Commonwealth troops at the beginning of April 1917 during the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line. It was lost on the 23 March 1918 when the Germans advanced, but regained at the beginning of September. The cemetery was begun in 1917 and used until March 1918, mainly by the 21st and 48th Casualty Clearing Stations posted at Ytres, and to a small extent by the Germans, who knew it as "Etricourt Old English Cemetery". Burials were resumed by Commonwealth troops in September 1918 and the 3rd Canadian and 18th Casualty Clearing Stations buried in it in October and November 1918.' (www.cwgc.org)
CWGC headstone personal inscription: 'Until the day dawns' CWGC additional information: 'Son of Richard Thomas and Charlotte Gray' Registers of Soldiers' Effects: William's sisters, Edith Annie and Florence, were co-legatees. WW1 Pension Ledgers: named his father, Richard.
