Person:William Lewis (294)

William Lewis was born on 7th January 1897 at Luton in Bedfordshire, son of a straw hat sewer named Susannah Priscilla Moss and Thomas Lewis, a rag and bone man.

William appears in the 1901 census living at 148 Chapel Street in Luton with his parents and siblings. Some time between 1901 and 1911 they moved just around the corner to 29 South Road. By the time of the 1911 census William was working in the local straw hat trade, manufacturing hats.

William later took on work as a moulder at the Diamond Foundry in Luton. He was also captain of the St Saviour's Club football team. He joined the army in 1914, initially joining the Territorial Army in May 1914, before being called up full time on the outbreak of the First World War in the August. He initially served in the Bedfordshire Regiment on service within the UK.

William's father died on 25th July 1916 in Luton. Three weeks later William sailed from Folkestone to Boulogne to join the fighting in France. He served in a couple of different regiments in France, being transferred to the Machine Gun Corps in January 1917. On 31st July 1917 his right leg was badly injured when a shell exploded next to him. He lay injured in no-mans' land for eight hours before being retrieved. He was brought back to England to the Lord Derby Military Hospital at Winwick in Lancashire, near Warrington. He wrote to his sister Ethel at 29 South Road, and his letters were reported in the Luton newspapers. He was discharged in 1919, and appears to have briefly returned home to live with his mother in Luton.

In March 1920 William wrote to the army authorities to notify them of his change of address from 29 South Road in Luton to 10 Alfred Street in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, just north of Winwick where he had been in hospital. The house at Alfred Street was the home of the Hamnett family, and early in 1920 William married Mary Alice Hamnett (who was known as Alice). Presumably they had met whilst he had been in hospital at Winwick - perhaps she had worked there.

William and Alice went on to have three children together in the Newton-le-Willows area: William in 1920, Alice Joyce in 1922 and Alfred in 1931.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, William, Alice and their children were living at 78 Mill Lane in Newton-le-Willows. William was working in textile furnishing production.

Back in Luton, William's mother died in 1950.

By 1952 William and Alice and their family had left the Newton-le-Willows area and moved over 200 miles north to the small village of Ashfield, just north of Dunblane in Perthshire, Scotland. Their daughter Alice died there in 1952, aged just 29. William was described as a foreman textile worker at the time.

By 1967 they had moved into the town of Dunblane, living at 18 Kippendavie Avenue. Alice died in hospital in nearby Stirling on 30th October 1967, aged 70. William survived her by about twelve years. He died in Stirling in 1979, aged 82.

1. ↑ Births index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   b. William Lewis MOSS, March Quarter 1897, Luton Registration District, Volume 3b, page 438, mother's maiden name blank

2. ↑ England. England. 1901 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG13; Piece 1514; Folio 82; Page 28, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: 148 Chapel Street, Luton, Bedfordshire
   Thomas Lewis, head, married, male, 50 [1850/1], Marine Store Dealer, own account, working at home, b. Aspley Guise, Bedfordshire
   Suey Lewis, wife, married, female, 35 [1865/6], b. Aley Green, Bedfordshire
   Thomas Lewis, son, single, male, 15 [1885/6], Straw Hat Blocker, worker, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Arthur Lewis, son, single, male, 14 [1886/7], b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Ethel Lewis, daughter, single, female, 13 [1887/8], b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Lenny Lewis, son, single, male, 11 [1889/90], b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Percy Lewis, son, single, male, 8 [1892/3], b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Willie Lewis, son, single, male, 4 [1896/7], b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Suie Lewis, daughter, single, female, 1 [1899/1900], b. Luton, Bedfordshire

3. ↑ England. 1911 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom: The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.))
   Class RG14; Piece 9012; Schedule 53, 2 Apr 1911.

   Address: 29 South Road, Luton, Bedfordshire
   Five rooms occupied
   Tho[ma]s Lewis, head, male, 53 [1857/8], married, 12 children born alive, 10 children still living, Collector - Rags & Bones, own account, at home, b. Aspley Guise, Bedfordshire
   Suey Moss, female, 45 [1865/6], single, House worker, worker, b. Aley Green, Hertfordshire
   Arther Lewis Moss, male, 24 [1886/7], single, Labourer, worker, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Ethel Lewis Moss, female, 23 [1887/8], single, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Harry Lewis Moss, male, 21 [1889/90], single, Basket Maker - Mat Baskets, employer, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Percy Lewis Moss, male, 19 [1891/2], single, Labourer - Iron Foundry, worker, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   William Lewis Moss, male, 14 [1896/7], Straw Hat Trade - straw hat manufacturing, worker, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Suey Lewis Moss, female, 11 [1899/1900], School, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Bethia Lewis Moss, female, 9 [1901/2], School, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Reubin Lewis Moss, male, 7 [1903/4], School, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Alfe Lewis Moss, male, 4 [1906/7], b. Luton, Bedfordshire

4.   British Army WWI Service Records, 1914-1920 (The National Archives of the UK / ancestry.co.uk).

   Summary
   William Lewis of 29 South Road, Luton
   Next of kin: father Thomas Lewis, mother Susannah, 29 South Road, Luton
   Trade: Moulder working at Diamond Foundry
   19 May 1914: Enlisted: aged 17 years 4 months, height 5 feet 4 inches
   5 Aug 1914: Embodied (called up full time) into Bedfordshire Regiment
   16 Aug 1916: embarked Folkestone, disembarked Boulogne
   17 Aug 1916 to 2 Sep 1916: Private in 1st Hertfordshire as Private from 17 Aug 1916 to 2 Sep 1916
   3 Sep 1916: Private in Royal Sussex
   30 Jan 1917: Posted to 116th Company British Expeditionary Force, Machine Gun Corps
   31 Jul 1917: Wounds in action to right leg
   2 Aug 1917: Boulogne [presumably indicating port to sail home]
   11 Nov 1919: Discharged, Private "Being no longer physically fit for War Service" Approved at the Lord Derby War Hospital, Warrington.
   No. 73172
   24 Jul 1920: Wrote letter to Machine Gun Corps from 10 Alfred Street, Newton le Willows, Lancashire - gives former address of 29 South Road, Luton.

5. ↑ ^5.0 5.1 General Register Office. 1939 Register
   Newton-le-Willows Urban District, 29 Sep 1939.

   Address: 78 Mill Lane, Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire
   Lewis, William / male / 7 Jan 1898 / married / Textile Furnishing Production Process Worker
   [one record closed]
   Lewis, Alice Joyce / female / 24 Jun 1922 / single / Prouction Process Worker Textile Dyeing & Printing
   Lewis, Alice / female / 23 Mar 1898 / married / Unpaid Domestic Duties
   [one record closed]

6. ↑ Deaths index, in General Register Office for Scotland. Civil Registration.

   d. William LEWIS, 1979, Stirling Registration District, Ref 473/174, aged 82 [1896/7], mother's maiden name Moss

7.   Luton News and Bedfordshire Chronicle, in United Kingdom. The British Newspaper Archive
   Thursday 16 Aug 1917.

   [under heading Pte. W. Flitton]
   Miss E. Lewis, of 29, South-road, Luton, has received official notification that her brother, Pte. W. Lewis, has been severely wounded in the leg during an engagement in France. Keen on becoming a soldier he joined the Territorials at the age of 17, and on the outbreak of war was mobilised with the Beds Regiment. Just before he was to be drafted out to Gallipoli, his sister wrote to the military authorities informing them of his age, so that we was drafted to another regiment for training in this country. Twelve months ago he proceeded to France with the Machine Gun Corps and was wounded in the recent advance. He is now in Lord Derby's War Hospital, Warrington.
   Writing to his sister he said: - "A shell burst just at the side of me and my mates when we were going over the top at 4 o'clock on Tuesday morning, and we lay in between our lines and the Germans' for eight hours before we were picked up." Another letter states that one of the bones in his leg was smashed in half. He had been under one operation, and one bone was removed entirely.
   Before mobilisation, Pte. Lewis was well known as the captain of the St. Saviour's Club Football team, and an employee of the Diamond Foundry.
   [The photograph at the top of this page appeared on a different page of the same edition, captioned "Pte. W. Lewis, 29, South-road, Luton (Beds Regt.) Wounded."]