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Record #18359
Name :
: William Charles HALLIDAY (1891 - 1917)


Father
:
Mother
:
BMD and other details
Date of Birth
: 19 Feb 1891

Marriage (1)
:
Marriage (2)
:

Date of Death
: 10 Sep 1917   Notes : Killed in Action
Abode (1) : Place of BirthEngland, Dorset, Sherborne
Abode (2) : Place of Death / Burial
Sailing Information
Date of Arrival
: 15 May 1903
Country
: Canada

Ship
: Tunisian

Placement Family
:
Homes / Agencys
Institution (GB)
: Childrens Aid

Agency
: Unknown
NotesWilliam was the son of Charles Lewis Halliday and his wife Florence (n?e Nightingale). Charles and Florence were married in 1890 in the county of Somerset, in southwest England, and William was born 19 February 1891 in Sherborne, a small village in Dorset. He was baptized three months later in the nearby parish of Poyntington. His father worked as a gardener.

When the 1901 census was taken William and his mother Florence were living in Barnes, Surrey, which is now part of greater London. William was ten years old and they were both listed as servants in the household of a gold jeweller and his family. Florence's marital status was "widow" but her husband was probably still alive and living separately from her. Florence's only other child Henry was born in March 1905 in Marylebone, London. It seems she wasn't able to take care of both boys and William was put in the care of the Children's Aid Society. In September 1905, at age 14, he was sent to Canada as a Home Child. William travelled to Canada on the Tunisian with another boy, 16-year-old Walter Jamieson. For both of them the passenger manifest said, "From Children's Aid Society, 32 Charing Cross, London, going to Mr. S. Fea 367 Selkirk avenue Winnipeg." Reverend Samuel Fea was the Rector of St. Peter's Episcopal Church, located at 359 Selkirk Avenue.

At the time of the next census in June 1906 William was listed as a pupil in an orphanage in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. By 1911 he had moved to Portage la Prairie, Manitoba and he was lodging in a private home along with three other men, all of them working as section hands for the railway. Three years later when the war started he was living in Kenora, Ontario and employed by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) as a locomotive fireman.

Relatives have said William apparently joined the army so he could go back to England to see his mother again. He enlisted with the 52nd (New Ontario) Battalion on 21 December 1914 in Port Arthur, Ontario. The recruits trained in Port Arthur over the winter and the following summer they were sent to England as part of the 1st Reinforcing Draft. William embarked with his unit on 17 June 1915, leaving from Montreal on the Scandinavian. In England he was transferred to the 32nd Reserve Battalion and in August 1915 he was drafted to the 8th Battalion. The 8th had suffered a lot of casualties that spring and summer in the Battles of St. Julien, Festubert and Givenchy. William was sent to France on 5 August along with 150 other men as reinforcements for the 8th and they joined the battalion in Belgium two days later.

Over the next year William spent some time with other units, including an engineer field company and a wireless brigade. By August 1916 he was back with the 8th Battalion for the Battle of the Somme. They were in support trenches at the Somme when William suffered a shrapnel wound to his left arm on 8 September 1916. He was sent to England for treatment and spent almost three months in hospitals. During his convalescence he saw his mother for the first time in eleven years, and his brother Henry too. On 4 December he was discharged to the Canadian Corps Depot and he served in England for five months.

In May 1917 William was drafted back into the 8th Battalion and he joined them in the field in France. He was wounded again in August 1917 and was treated at a Casualty Clearing Station. He rejoined his unit on 1 September 1917 and nine days later he was killed in action.

From the Circumstances of Casualty record for William: "About 5 P.M. on September 10th 1917, he was hit in the neck by a piece of enemy shell and instantly killed. His Company at the time was in support and occupying cellars and as no movement was allowed, food had to be conveyed underground from one cellar to another. Private Halliday was employed in taking round food at the time and the shell landed in the coal chute of the cellar he was passing through."

William is buried in Sucrerie British Cemetery in Ablain St. Nazaire, Pas de Calais, France and he is commemorated on the CPR Roll of Honour.

William's brother Henry (Harry) was raised by their mother Florence and he became a mechanical engineer. After Harry's marriage Florence lived with him and his wife until her death in 1952. Harry lived to be 96 years old. He remembered visiting with William over a three week period in the fall 1916, while he was recuperating from his wounds. It was the first and only time he saw his brother.

From the Canadian great war project 
ContributorsCreated : 2012-11-27 19:27:52 / From original database

Last Updated : 2012-11-28 05:07:07 /

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