Rank: Private Regiment: Royal Marine Light Infantry Died: 10 November 1917 Age: 49 Parish: East Budleigh Local Memorials: East Budleigh Memorial Cross, East Budleigh Memorial Tablet PDF Download: HARDING William J
William J Harding was born in East Budleigh in 1868, the son of William and Olive Harding of Brook Cottage.
Records at the National Archives indicate he enlisted in the Royal Marine Light Infantry on 27 September, 1886, when he was 17.
Census records of 1911 have Private Harding working as a house painter in East Budleigh, so maybe he re-enlisted some time after war broke out.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission says he was married to Louisa, and that she lived in Brook Cottage, East Budleigh.
Royal Navy casualty records have a Private William J Hardney of the RMLI dying of illness at the Stonehouse Barracks Hospital, in Plymouth, on 10 November 1917. This is likely to be William Harding, as the service numbers, PLY/3913, match so this record is probably misspelt.
Private Harding was 49 when he died, and he was buried in the graveyard at East Budleigh. His widow, Louisa died in September 1954, aged 85, and was buried with her late husband.
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