Name
William James Ingram
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
13/08/1915
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Sergeant
907
Australian Infantry, A.I.F.
1st Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
PIETA MILITARY CEMETERY
B. VI 4.
Malta
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Bushey Town Memorial, Weston Turville Memorial, Buckinghamshire
Pre War
William James Ingram was born in July 1887 in Weston Turville, Buckinghamshire, the eldest son of William and Eliza (née Flitney) Ingram.
At the 1891 Census, William (Jnr.) is three years old and living with his parents and his one-year-old sister, Maud, at The Crown Public House in Weston Turville. His father, a duck breeder and publican, is 32 and his mother is 29 years old. Eliza was born in Wilstone, Buckinghamshire, whilst the others were born in Weston Turville.
In 1900, when William was about 12, his father died, leaving his mother widowed at the age of 36.
The 1901 census shows Eliza as a poultry farmer and innkeeper at The Crown, with three children, William, Maud and Peter Charles Ingram. Edward Pearson, a boarder who was employed as a greengrocer, was living with them. In about 1903 Eliza married Edward and they had a daughter named Queenie.
By 1911, William and Maud had left home, while Edward, Eliza, Queenie and Peter had moved to 116 School Lane, Bushey. Peter was 17 and was working as a greengrocer. He later served as a Private with the Royal Field Artillery and was away from home in 1918 at the time the Absentee Voters’ Lists were compiled.
The records for St John the Evangelist, Lambeth, London give details for an intended wedding on 15 September 1912 between William and a Gwladwys Ethel Winifred Williams. William, recorded as a 25-year-old police constable and Gwladwys, aged 36 are both living at 65a Belvedere Road, Lambeth. However, the record is unsigned, crossed through and annotated “cancelled”, so did not take place, but the reason for this is unknown.
Wartime Service
The service record of William James Ingram shows that before the war he was a Sergeant in the Metropolitan Police and then emigrated to Australia. The Australian Archive indicates he enlisted on 26th August 1914 in the Australian Infantry, serving as Sergeant 907 with the 1st battalion.
His mother, Mrs E Pearson of 116, School Lane, Merry Hill, Bushey, was informed that he had died on 13 December 1915 of wounds from injuries received in action in Gallipoli. He is buried in Pieta Military Cemetery in Malta. The Service Record includes a letter sent from his mother’s home address in December 1915 asking for details of the circumstances of his death.
He is commemorated on the Bushey Memorial and on the memorial in Weston Turville, near his childhood home.
Additional Information
Information provided with the kind permission of Bushey First World War Commemoration Project – Please visit www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk.
Acknowledgments
Andrew Palmer
Dianne Payne - www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk, Jonty Wild
