William Fisher. Died 28 September 1915
William was born about 1895 in Wokingham, son of William and Mary Fisher. In 1901 he lived with his parents and 7 siblings in Pollard Place, Wokingham. His father worked as a house fitter.
By 1911 the family were living in 5 rooms at 3 Norton Road, Wokingham. Some of the older children had left home but Mary had 8 of her 11 children plus one grand-daughter and a boarder all living together. Mary’s occupation is given as char-woman.
Click on image to increase size
William joined the 1st battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment very early in the war and was serving with them at the battle of Loos in 1915 when he was killed on the 28th September together with over 300 men from his battalion. His name is commemorated on the Loos memorial. Here is an account of the action http://www.purley.eu/H142P/P211-LOOS.pdf
During the war, the mayor held tribunals to consider men for exemption from service. Here is an extract from Reading Mercury’s 11th March 1916 edition regarding William’s brother Harry:
–Harry Fisher (attested), of 3, Norton Road, Wokingham, employed by Mr. E.C. Hughes, claimed exemption on the ground that he had to support his mother, two young brothers, and a sister. He had two brothers serving, one was missing and one has been wounded. No exemption was granted.
As Harry is not named on the Memorial, it is likely he survived.
Their family tree:
[iframe_loader width=”625″ height=”550″ frameborder = “1” longdesc=’ ‘marginheight=’0′ marginwidth=’0′ name=’ ‘click_words=’ ‘click_url=’ scrolling=’yes’ src=’http://wokinghamremembersco.ipage.com/Family trees/Fisher William G’]