William George Kenneth Ward (1892 - 1991)

Born 19 Mar 1892 in Fulham, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom

Died 10 May 1991 at age 99 in Deewhy, New South Wales, Australia

Biography

William was born in 1892 in Hammersmith, London, the son of Harry Ward and his wife Clara Helena, nee Kerven. He was baptised at St Peter's, Hammersmith on 12 Jun 1892. His father was a tobacconist.^[1]

In the 1901 Census of England he is living with his parents and 4 siblings in Hammersmith. His father is a commercial clerk. He is recorded as Kenneth.^[2]

William was a fitter & turner by trade, having served his apprenticeship with D. Napier & Son, Motor Engineers of Ascot Vale in London.

He probably migrated to New South Wales, Australia with his parents around 1910 as he was then employed as a turner at Mort Dock in Sydney, NSw and as an assistant engineer at Sydney Steel Co. in Marrickville, NSW. He then worked as mechanic in charge of the National Cash Register Co. in Sydney and then in Adelaide, South Australia from May 1912 to Nov 1915.

William entered into a private contract with Vickers Ltd in 1915 to work for them for the duration of the War as a munitions worker in the UK. At that time he was single and living in Adelaide, S.A. He embarked on the SS "Port Kembla" from Sydney, NSW on 31 Dec 1915, arriving at Plymouth, England on 02 Mar 1916.

He commenced working at the Vickers Ltd Erith plant in Kent almost immediately as a jig maker and machine letter.

On 14 Jun 1917 he applied to become an Australian Mn=unitions Worker under a joint Australian government/ British government scheme to supply skilled workers for the War effort in the UK. At the time the Australian government was very keen to bring all private contract men under the scheme.

He was accepted and was issued with Australian Munitions Worker Badge No. 1285.

On 29 May 1918 he sought an interview with authorities. He advised them that he had 2 brothers who had been killed in action and there was 1 brother still at home. His mother was not well and his father was not at home. He may have been sounding out the option of breaking his contract with Vickers Ltd and returning to Australia early.

However by Oct 1918 he was enquiring about arrangements for returning to Australia with his wife. It would seem he may have opted not to return to Australia but instead travelled to Belgium.^[3]

He married Caroline Julia Sarah Labbe on 30 Sep 1921 in Belgium and there were 4 children.

William and Caroline travelled to Australia from London on the SS "Commonwealth" departing on 20 Oct 1921. He listed his occupation as engineer.^[4]

During WW2 he enlisted as a Private in the Australian Army Militia at Manly, NSW on 25 Mar 1943. At the time he was married, living in Deewhy, NSW and was a foreman in a tank factory (Coote & Jorgenson, Engineers) in Alexandria, NSW. He was 5 ft 6 in tall with medium complexion, brown hair and blue eyes.

William was allocated to the 7th Bn, Volunteer Defence Corps (N458896). He was discharged on 17 Aug 1944 as services no longer required.

William died in NSW in 1991.

Sources

1. ↑ William George Kenneth Ward in the London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1920 - Source Citation: London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; London Church of England Parish Registers; Reference Number: P80/PET/003; Source Information: Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1920 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.; Original data: Board of Guardian Records and Church of England Parish Registers. London Metropolitan Archives, London.
2. ↑ Kenneth Ward in the 1901 England Census - Source Citation: Class: RG13; Piece: 42; Folio: 127; Page: 46; Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1901 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.; Original data: Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives, 1901.
3. ↑ William Georges Kenneth Ward in the Belgium, Antwerp Police Immigration Index, 1840-1930 - Name: William Georges Kenneth Ward; Birth Date: 1892; Birth Place: London, England; Immigration Date: 1916-1930; Immigration Place: Antwerpen, Belgium; File Number: 162446; Page: 3759; FHL Film Number: 2234924 - Source Information: Ancestry.com. Belgium, Antwerp Police Immigration Index, 1840-1930 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.; Original data: Belgium, Antwerp Police Immigration Index, 1840-1930. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.
4. ↑ Mr William G K Ward in the UK and Ireland, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960 - Source Citation: The National Archives; Kew, Surrey, England; BT27 Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and Successors: Outwards Passenger Lists; Reference Number: Series BT27-115903; Source Information: Ancestry.com. UK and Ireland, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.; Original data: Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and successors: Outwards Passenger Lists. BT27. Records of the Commercial, Companies, Labour, Railways and Statistics Departments. Records of the Board of Trade and of successor and related bodies. The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, England.

• Birth - UK GRO BDM Birth index - WARD, WILLIAM GEORGE KENNETH; KERVEN; GRO Reference: 1892 J Quarter in FULHAM Volume 01A Page 178

• WW1 Australian Munitions Worker Service File - National Archives of Australia - WARD William George Kenneth - Munitions Worker Number 1285 - http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=5910218

• WW2 Citizen Military Forces Personnel Dossiers, 1939-1947 - National Archives of Australia - WARD WILLIAM GEORGE KENNETH : Service Number - N458896 : Date of birth - 19 Mar 1892 : Place of birth - LONDON ENGLAND : Place of enlistment - MANLY NSW : Next of Kin - WARD CAROLINE - http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=5732846

• Death - NSW BDM Death index - WARD WILLIAM GEORGE KENNETH; 9162/1991; HARRY; CLARA HELENA

• Death Notice - ryersonindex.org - WARD William George Kenneth; Death notice; 10MAY1991; Death; 99; Sydney Morning Herald; 14MAY1991