b. 15th March 1884, Birmingham
m. 14 March 1909, Birmingham
d. c.1960
Father: Richard Yates; Mother: Mary Ann Birch;
Spouse: Lily Elizabeth Portlock;
Children: Adelaide, William, John, May
| By all accounts William Henry Yates was a bit of a character! He is remembered as a stocky man who was covered in tattoos. His chest was emblazoned with the King and Queen and he had a full sailing ship across his back. William was born on 15th March 1884 at 26 Newtown Row, in the St. George's area of Birmingham. His father was Richard Yates and his mother was Mary Ann (nee Birch). William is shown on the 1901 census as residing with his sister Mary Ann and her husband Charles Toon at Rosebery Avenue. He is noted as being a Metal Armealer at this time. William had joined the Navy by the time he married Lily Elizabeth Portlock on 14th March 1909 in the parish of St. Peter’s in Birmingham and is shown as a Seaman on the marriage certificate. William's Naval records show that he lied about his age by a year probably to gain entry. He is described as 5ft 2 3/4, brown hair, green eyes and a fresh complexion. At the time he had a heart and "Maggie" tattooed on one arm and a hand and flowers on the other arm. He enlisted on 20th July 1901 and served for 12 years. William served as a Stoker on various ships such as the Duke of Wellington, Victory and Invicible and his conduct was very good for a while. However by 1904 he had served 90 days hard labour for being indifferent and subsequent behaviour resulted in several spells in the cells, 9 months hard labour and eventually he was court marshalled and dismissed on 3rd May 1912 for being AWOL and striking his superior officer. William's record shows "corner of PC cut off". Upon release from service men were invariably issued with a so called Parchment Certificate. This would give the most important details about them and their service and could aways be produced for official or pensions purposes. In the case of WHY the corner of his parchment certificate was cut off. This would be a warning to other authorities that he would probably have to forego rights which were removed with his dismissal. By the time Gran (Adelaide) was born in 1915 William had joined the Army. Family rumour is that Lily came home one day to find he’d disappeared and it was a few months later that she found out he was with the Royal Warwickshires. In 1915 William was with the 9th Battalion as a stocker and landed in Gallipoli as reinforcement on 2nd October that year. He served throughout the war and survived, apparently unscathed before being discharged to the reserves on 28 May 1919. By 1937 when Adelaide married James Starling, William was a Power Station Labourer. He died about 1960. |
