William Bailey was born on 3rd May 1878, and was the oldest of five children. His father, Robert, was a cloth worker from Devizes, Wiltshire, but it was in the nearby garrison town of Trowbridge that he and his wife, Matilda, raised their children. The 1881, 1891 and 1901 census records all give the family’s address as 12 New Road, to the south of the town centre.
The 1901 census reveals some interesting information. By this point, Matilda records herself as widowed, and is financially supported by William, who is employed as a mattress maker, and two of his siblings. However, the same census states that Robert is, in fact, living and working in Llanwono, Mid Glamorgan, with another of their children, Frank. Father and son are both labouring in one of the local coal mines, Robert recording his status as married.
At this point, Matilda’ and William’s trail goes cold. The next census, taken in 1911, finds Robert still living in Llanwono, boarding with his brother in a fellow colliery work’s house on Rock Street. His records himself as ‘married, wife away’.
On 21st January 1915, William married Rose Hayward in their home town. War was raging across Europe by this point, and on 5th July 1916, he gave up his then job as a carpenter, to join the 2nd/7th Cyclist Regiment. Sadly, there is little information about his time in the army, although he rose to the rank of Corporal. Nine months after enlisting, however, he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps.
Initially taking the role or Air Mechanic 2nd Class, his service papers show that he was just 5ft 4.5ins (1.64m) tall. By the summer of 1918, William had been moved across to the Royal Air Force, and promoted to Air Mechanic 1st Class. Attached to the 90th Squadron, then the 51st, he was based out of Waddington Airfield in Lincolnshire.
In the autumn of 1918 Air Mechanic Bailey contracted pneumonia, and was admitted to the 4th Northern General Hospital in Lincoln. The condition would prove fatal, and, on 22nd November, he passed away: William was 40 years of age.
The body of William Bailey was laid to rest in Trowbridge Cemetery. His headstone commemorates his army rank.
(from ancestry.co.uk)
