Private William Meadwell

Born in London in 1889, William was the son of William and Ellen Meadwell. The couple also had five other children – Christina, Philip, James, Harold and Olivia. In 1891 the family was living in the Peabody Buildings in the St. Giles in the Fields district of London (south Camden.) William snr. was a brass finisher – responsible for perfecting and polishing a range of the brass goods which were still popular at that time.

By 1901 the Meadwell family was living in the Bloomsbury area of London. William snr seems to have died soon afterwards and in 1903 Ellen Meadwell married painter and decorator, Frederick Jones. The 1911 census shows the family living in a seven – ten room house at 25 Northumberland Grove, Park Lane, Tottenham. They shared their home with a boarder, Ernest Watling and an elderly widow, Ellen Humphries. Most of the Meadwell children were now working – Christina and William had left home - Philip was a warehouseman for an Ironmonger, James worked for a Printer; Harold was a machine boy for a Cabinet maker and the two youngest daughters were still at school.

William had already joined the army by 1911 and at the age of 21 was a Private in Pembrokeshire, Wales. During the First World War he served in the 1st Battalion, Welsh Regiment, arriving in France in January 1915. He and his comrades were based in the area between Bailleul and Hazebrouck, together with a number of Territorial units. It was here that William died on 2 April, 1915, from wounds sustained in battle. He was 25 years old.

He was buried at the Bailleul Communal Cemetery, near the border between France and Belgium. His name also appears on the Mitcham War Memorial.