William Henry TEMPEST

307155, Rifleman. b. 1893, Bradford d. 26th March 1918 (aged 24).

The 1907 census shows the Tempest family living on Melrose Street in Great Horton, Father Joseph, his wife Emily and their 2 sons, William and Edmund, both parents list their occupations in the worsted trade.

The 1911 census finds William (aged 17) living with his mother and brother Edmund (aged 14) now at No.1 Nursery House, Clayton Heights. William is shown working as an Apprenticed Overlooker and Edmund as a Grocery Assistant.

William had enlisted much earlier in the war and joined the Leeds Rifles and was with the unit when it first departed for France on 15th April 1915.

He survived throughout the conflict until the German Spring Offensive, when like so many of his other comrades, he fell to the advancing German forces. He was also one of the few ‘Rifleman’ from Clayton to die during hostilities. Like many of the other spring of 1918 casualties he is remembered on the Arras memorial.

Williams brother Edmund Married Mary Garthwaite in 1922, the wedding certificate shows Edmunds father, Joseph as deceased. It is probable that Joseph died between the 1901 and 1911 census. Edmund survived both wars and died in 1960.