Pte 29160 William Marsh

William was born in late 1878, the son of James Marsh and his wife Clara (née Whitburn). When they married in Toxteth in 1870, both his parents were 24 years old, and his father’s occupation was railway foreman. Clara was born in Truro, Cornwall; his father was born in Liverpool.  

 

William had older siblings Albert and Ada, born in Liverpool, before the family moved to Runcorn where John, William, and Herbert were born.

 

In 1881 William, age 2, is living with his mother and siblings at the Countess Inn, 12 Regent Street, Runcorn. His mother, 40, listed as married, is running a ‘beer house’. 

His father died in the March quarter of 1886, aged 39, his death was registered in Runcorn.

They are still at 12 Regent Street in 1891, where his now widowed mother, 45, is a hotel keeper with a domestic servant and four boarders.  Ada is 16, William 12, and Herbert 10.

 

1901 finds his mother, 55, still running the inn at 12 Regent Street, and her niece, Elizabeth Buchanan, 19, is a general domestic servant.  William has not been identified on the 1901 or 1911 censuses, but in 1901 a William Marsh, of the right age, 22, born in Runcorn, a general labourer, is found lodging with Thomas and Sarah Bell in Farnley, near Leeds.

 

His mother died in 1907, aged 61.

Prior to enlisting he was employed at Alfred Dock in Birkenhead.

 

William enlisted in Liverpool as Private 29160, joining the 17th (Pals) Battalion of The King’s Liverpool Regiment.  

The 17th Battalion was billeted at Prescot Watch Factory from 14^th September 1914, he trained there and also at Knowsley Hall. On 30th April 1915 the 17th Battalion alongside the other three Pals battalions left Liverpool via Prescot Station for further training at Belton Park, Grantham. They remained here until September 1915 when they reached Larkhill Camp on Salisbury Plain. 

William arrived in France on 07^th November 1915. 

The British bombardment of the German lines, in preparation for the ‘Big Push’, begins on 24th June 1916.  On the 26th the German counter-barrage begins and inflicts quite serious losses on the 17th and 20th battalions.

The 17th Bn War Diary for 26th/27th June shows “heavy enemy bombardment of front line trenches.  Casualties: Killed O.R. 17, Wounded O.R. 57”

 

William was one of the 17 killed, he was 38 years of age.

He was buried close to where he fell in Maricourt Military Cemetery and his grave marked with a cross.  The cemetery was at the south-east corner of the village, on the road to Clery. It was begun by French troops in December, 1914, and was known to the French by the name of Ferme Caudron. It was taken over by British troops in August, 1915, and used until July 1916.  After the war when graves were concentrated his body was removed and reinterred in Cerisy-Gailly Cemetery where he now rests.

His death was announced in the Liverpool Echo 20th July 1916 –

Roll of Honour – DOCK GATEMAN KILLED – At the meeting of the Mersey Dock Board today it was reported that a dock board gateman named William Marsh had been killed at the front.

Liverpool Echo 31/7/1916 – Roll of Honour – Wallasey Men – “Your husband was a splendid man and set a fine example” wrote his Colonel to the widow of Private William Marsh of 22 Fairfax Road, Seacombe. Before he joined the Pals he was for over three years dock gateman at Alfred dock.

His death was also announced in the Runcorn Guardian on 21st July 1916:

“Mrs. Moores of 131, Church Street, Runcorn, has been informed of the death of her brother, Private William Marsh, who the War Office communication states was killed in action on June 27th.  For the last two or three years Private Marsh has lived in Seacombe, being employed at the Alfred Dock, Birkenhead.  He was 38 years of age and enlisted in the King’s (Liverpool Regiment) early last year and had been out in France since September (sic) last.  Before leaving Runcorn he lived in Peel Street, his mother at one time keeping the Ellesmere Inn, Regent Street.” 
 

His pension card notes that a widow’s pension was awarded to Hetty Marsh, at 22 Fairfax Road, Seacombe,  for herself and a child, Walter Harold Barsdorf Tinsley, born on 21st August 1914, mother’s maiden name Tinsley.  The pension card notes that Walter was adopted by William.  Hetty’s birthdate is shown as 05/01/1888;  however, no birth or census records have been found in this name. Nor has a marriage record been found. (Intriguingly, there is a marriage for William Marsh and Hetty Leadbetter in 1912 in the Wirral, and a Harold Leadbetter married Agnes Tinsley in Liverpool in 1913.)

 

Hetty remarried on 02/06/1918 to John Plumpton at St Paul's Church, Seacombe., a civilian. She received William’s Army effects, including a War Gratuity of £4 and a remarriage gratuity of £35-9s-1d.

 

In 1939 Hetty, widowed, is living at 3 St. Paul’s Road, Wallasey, giving her date of birth as 5/1/1890.  Hetty died in 1945.  Her son Walter died in 1975.

 

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