6897 & TS/4990 Corporal / Driver / Saddler
William Alban Harvey
Manchester Regiement, Army Service Corps
& Army Ordnance Corps
Queen's South Africa Medal (with clasps), 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal, and Defence Medal.
FAMILY
William Alban Harvey was born on 5th January 1884 in Heaton Norris, Stockport, near Manchester. His father, also called William was a well known and successful saddler and trader of general leather goods. His award-winning business had at least three stores in Stockport and Wilmslow. The business is explored in more detail later on this page.
7 year old William appears on the 1891 census living with the family in Cheadle, Lancashire, England. Apart from his Father William, the household consisted of his mother, Mary, and his younger siblings, Harold (6), Ethel (3), and Arthur (2 months).
Volunteer Force & Sent to War
On 30th January 1900, William enlisted in the 3rd battalion of the Manchester Regiment, having not long turned sixteen years of age. He lied about his age to the recruiter, who noted he was in fact “18 years and 1 month.” He was quickly transferred to the 5th Battalion, which was part of the Volunteer Force (similar in function to the later Territorial Army). This meant he could continue in civilian employment, and would have been required to attend the Drill hall twice a week after work.
On his attestation documents, he is recorded as being 5ft 6in tall, weighing 116 lbs, with a fresh complexion, grey eyes, and light brown hair. It also notes that he is slightly flat-footed, with a “hammer toe” on the second toe of his right foot.
On the 3rd May 1900 the 5th (Volunteer) Battalion Manchester Regiment was part-mobilised for deployment to South Africa in support of the regular battalions there currently fighting the South African Republic and Orange Free State in the Second Boer War. A number of men from various local Companies were sent, mostly utilised for driving and logistics jobs. William was also promoted to Corporal at this time, though the records show he was only paid a Lance Corporal’s wage. The men of the battalion returned home on 20th September 1900.
By the 1901 census, carried out on 31st March, the family was living at 15 Wellington Gardens, Stockport. Whilst Harold is absent from this census, the rest of the family are there, having also welcomed new additions, Albert (8), and Edward (3). William, now 17, whilst still in the Volunteer Force is employed as a harness maker in the family business.
On the 6th May 1901 William’s Battalion was again mobilised, this time fully, for deployment to South Africa. They spent more than a year there, returning on 28th July 1902, with William finally have turned 18 in the previous January (presumably still unbeknownst to his commanders!) whilst deployed. He also reverted back to Lance Corporal shortly before returning back to England.
William would return to his previous employment in the family business, along with his brother Harold. On the 1911 census, William is living back at the family home at 15 Wellington Gardens, Stockport. It is not clear when he left the Volunteer Forces, but he was awarded a small hallmarked silver medal for the Company Football Competition at Salisbury Plain in 1906. At that time he was in the mounted infantry copmpany of the 4th Volunteer Battalion, Manchester Regiment.
A Return to War
With the help of a signed letter from his father, declaring him to be “a practical and competent saddler,” on 9th November 1914, William voluntarily re-attested into the Army Service Corps. He was posted to the ASC Reserve for home service, until being assigned to the 29th Park Reserve (270 HT Company), which was formed in February 1915 specifically as a Heavy Transport in support of the Royal Naval Division headed to the Mediterranean. They used horses to move and deliver ammunition, and managed the critical supply lines necessary for the operations in the Salonika campaign in northern Greece, Serbia, and Albania.
William saw overseas service from 23rd March 1915 until 26th December 1916. He was then granted furlough from 29th December until the 8th January.
On 6th February 1918, 33 year-old William marrried 27 year-old Hilda Janet Dewar at the rather quaint All Saints Church, Siddlington, Cheshire. They moved in together at 9 Cedar Road, Stockport. Spending the remainder of the war on service, William was eventually discharged on 20th January 1919.
W.Harvey Saddlery
W.Harvey was a very well known and respected business in the area for many years, with mulitple stores. Please find a selection of images below. (Click any image to enlarge)
His brother, Harold had also served in the Army Service Corps in the Great War and in 1935, their father had gifted the saddlery business to the two brothers, with Harold buying William’s share of the company, leaving him free to start up a shop of his own in St Petersgate, Stockport. However by 1939 the business had failed.
WW2
At the outbreak of the Second World War, William is once again employed by the Army as an “inspector of military equipment” with the Army Ordnance Corps. He appears to be a civilian contractor of sorts, rather than a soldier.
Manchester Blitz
At the end of 1940 Manchester was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe. Heavy bombing continued sporadically throughout the war all around Greater Manchester, resulting in around 1000 deaths by the end of the war.
Having seen service in the Second Boer War and the full duration of the Great War, whilst serving his country at its time of need once more, William Alban Harvey was 58 years-old when, on 2nd June 1941, 9 Cedar Road took a direct hit from a German bomb, killing him.
William’s name is inscribed and remembered with honour on the Stockport war memorial, as well as on the national Civil War Death register.
William’s wife, Hilda died 27th March 1952, still living at 9 Cedar Road, leaving here estate to what may be their son, Geoffrey Dewar Harvey, who is noted as a “schoolmaster” on the probate records.
- 1891 Census
- 1901
- 1911 Census
- 1921 Census
- Baptism Record - 1884
- Marriage 1918
- Medal Index Card
- BWM & Victory Medal Roll
- 1914-15 Star Medal Roll
- Queen's South Africa Medal Roll
- Mention in the Edinburgh Gazette 1939
- Full Service Documents (PDF) - pending
- Birth Certificate
- Death Certificate
- On the register of Civil War Deaths
- 3rd March - Business going bust article
- Death Registration
- Wife's Death Registration
- Wife's Probate
- Brother Harold - 1921 Census
- Brother Harold - 1939 Register
