William Jacobs was born in Shoeburyness, Essex, in 1884. The middle of seven children, his parents were John and Mary Jacobs. By the time William was born, John was employed as a domestic gardener, but it seems likely that he had been a military man, his children having been born in garrison towns across Britain and India.
William is missing from the 1901 census, but the family seem to have settled in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, by this point. On 7th October 1905, he married Laura Turner, a labourer’s daughter from the town. They went on to have two children, William Jr and Edgar.
By the time of the 1911 census, William was working as a painter and decorator for a local brewery. The family had set up home at 12 Wyke Road, to the north of Trowbridge town centre. War was on the horizon, however, and things were to change.
When war broke out, William stepped up to play his part. Full details of his time in the army have been lost to time, it is clear that he joined the Wiltshire Regiment as a Private, and was attached to the 1st Battalion.
Private Jacobs found himself in France by July 1915, and was certainly caught up in some of the the skirmishes of that summer and autumn. The following spring, however, he was wounded in the fighting, and was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment.
Admitted to the 5th Southern General Hospital in Portsmouth, Hampshire, Private Jacobs’ injuries would ultimately prove too severe. He passed away on 19th March 1916, at the age of 32 years old.
The body of William Jacobs was taken back to Wiltshire for burial: he was laid to rest in the garrison town’s cemetery, a short walk from where his widow and children were still living.
