Barnes, William

Ashwell Roll of Honour

William was the son of William and Ann (nee Waldock) Barnes born on 6 July 1894 at Finsbury Park, Middlesex. He was a pupil of the Merchant Taylors School in Ashwell.

William enlisted in the Navy on 10 August 1910 at aged only 16, but his Navy records show he claimed to be two years older.

He served on Depot Ships in British and Mediterranean waters during WWI, rising to the rank of Acting Stoker Petty Officer. He survived the war and returned to Hertfordshire. He appears to still have been in the Navy until 1944 when he was invalided out.

William was awarded the 14/15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal

His records show him as having been a farm labourer before joining the Navy.

William married Mabel Violet Sheldrick on 13 October 1917 in Ashwell, Hertfordshire. They had one daughter Dorothy Joan, born in Ashwell on 2 January 1919, and one son, William John Barnes, born on 2 July 1922 in Ashwell and who also joined the Navy and died in Rhodesia on 13 October 1952.

The 1939 census shows the family living at West End, Ashwell with William a ‘Civil Servant, Paper Keeper at the Courts of Justice’. His Navy records show him still in service and pensioned off (No. 27408) in 1932, deceased in 1938 but again in service until 1944 when he was invalided out. He was based at Pembroke 2 which was the accounting base at Chatham, which could be the reference to Paper Keeper in the census.

William died on 15 July 1960 and is buried in Ashwell Cemetery. He is commemorated on the St Mary’s Church Ashwell Roll of Honour.