Pte 29248 James Stanley Williams

• Age: 21
• From: Wrexham, N.Wales
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 17th Btn
• D.O.W Wednesday 25th October 1916
• Commemorated at: Heilly Station Cem, Mericourt
  Panel Ref: IV.C.79

James Stanley Williams was born in Wrexham on 24th February 1895 and baptised 17th March 1895 also in Wrexham and his parents’ address is listed as 7 Town Hill, and father’s occupation listed as barman. He was the son of James Williams and his wife Sarah (née Williams). His parents, both from Wrexham, married in December 1889 and had seven children, one of whom died young.

According to the Census records, James had older siblings Harry, Nellie, and Florence, and younger brothers Richard and John.


In 1901 the family is living at 5 Bryn Issa Terrace, Wrexham, with four children.  His parents are both 32, his father is a barman, ‘Stanley’ is 6.

His eldest brother Harry died between the censuses, and his father died in 1909; the probate record shows his occupation as barman and residence as the Hand Inn public house, Town Hill, Wrexham.  His estate of £174-3s-5d went to his widow Sarah.

By 1911 they have moved to 12 Derby Road, Wrexham, and all five children are at home.  His mother is 42, Nellie, 19, and Florrie, 17, are shop assistants, James is 16, a pawnbroker’s assistant, Richard is 9, and John 5. Also three boarders, John, Rachel and William Hutchinson.

The amount of the War Gratuity suggests that he enlisted in about April or May 1915.

His medal rolls show only service in the 17th Battalion King's Liverpool Regiment however, James did not ship overseas with the rest of his battalion on 7th November 1915, but arrived in France on 29th December 1915, thus earning his 1914-1915 Star.

James Stanley enlisted in Liverpool and was serving in the 17th Battalion, The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private No 29248 when he died of wounds on the 25th October 1916 aged 21 during the Battle of the Transloy Ridges which was part of the ongoing Somme Offensive

He now rests at Heilly Station Cemetery, Mericourt, France.

The 36th Casualty Clearing Station was at Heilly from April 1916. It was joined in May by the 38th, and in July by the 2/2nd London, but these hospitals had all moved on by early June 1917. The cemetery was begun in May 1916 and was used by the three medical units until April 1917. From March to May 1918, it was used by Australian units, and in the early autumn for further hospital burials when the 20th Casualty Clearing Station was there briefly in August and September 1918. The last burial was made in May 1919. There are now 2,890 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. Only 12 of the burials are unidentified and special memorials are erected to 21 casualties whose graves in the cemetery could not be exactly located. The cemetery also contains 83 German graves. The burials in this cemetery were carried out under extreme pressure and many of the graves are either too close together to be marked individually, or they contain multiple burials. Some headstones carry as many as three sets of casualty details, and in these cases, regimental badges have had to be omitted. Instead, these badges, 117 in all, have been carved on a cloister wall on the north side of the cemetery. The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.

James earned his three medals.

His mother received his Army effects, including a War Gratuity of £5-10s.  The pension card in the name of his mother, by then remarried, Mrs. Sarah Lloyd, at 4 Derby Road, Wrexham, shows that she was awarded a pension of 12/- a week from May 1917.  A notation on the card shows “p(..?) refused” 3/9/1920.

James Stanley is commemorated in the Wrexham and East Denbighshire Book of Remembrance, now housed in Wrexham Museum. 

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