Private William Maurice Ham

 4447,  20th Battalion Australian Army

Born Feb 1880 Llanrwst, Denbighshire, North Wales.  

Died 11 Apr 1930, Australia (Age 40)

Son of William Henry and Catherine (nee Evans) Ham, Glenridding

Husband of Margaret Baker

William Maurice Ham was born around February 1890 in the mining village of Llanrwst in North Wales. He was the eldest son of William Henry Ham, a ship's steward, and his wife Catherine (nee Evans). The family were still in Llanrwst when the April 1891 census was taken; William Maurice (1) had two older sisters, Florence (11) and Lavinia (5). Sadly, his mother Catherine died around February 1892 and it seems that his father had to give up the sea going life to look after the children so moved to Glenridding where he got a job driving the electric engine in the Greenside Mine. On the 4th March 1896, his father married Elizabeth Ellen Bice at St Patrick's Church. In March 1901, William, now 11 and presumably at school, was living in Glenridding with his father William, step-mother Elizabeth, older sister Lavinia (14) and half-brother Raymond Bice Ham (10 months). In April 1911, William (21) was living with his married sister Lavinia at 11, Halton Terrace in Glenridding, and working as a qualified Plumber, having been apprenticed to George Carruthers of Sandgate in Penrith. His parents were living nearby in Stybarrow Terrace.

Before the outbreak of war, William had emigrated to New South Wales (NSW) in Australia to work as a plumber. However he enlisted in the Australian Army on the 15th November 1915 at Casula. From his service records it looks as though he has previously served in the military for 15 months, most likely in a territorial force. During his training he met and married Margaret M Baker in the early part of 1916 in Marrickville, New South Wales. He was part of the 11th Reinforcements of the 20th Battalion. This battalion was raised in early 1915 as part of the Australian Imperial Force and was attached to the 5th Brigade, 2nd Division that served during World War I. The battalion first saw action during the Gallipoli campaign, before being evacuated in December 1915. William embarked from Sydney bound for Europe on the 9th April 1916 aboard the HMAT Nestor A71 (see photo below - courtesy of the Australian War Memorial Website) alongside fellow Dalesman Moses Fisher.

It looks like he arrived in France in September 1916, at which point the battalion was in a quieter sector in Belgium for a period of rest. In October, however, the entire 2nd Division was moved to the south again and put back into the line in France once again and in November they launched an attack at Flers, in conditions that were so muddy that they were described by the official historian, Charles Bean, as "the worst ever encountered by the AIF". This may have contributed to a week in the field hospital that William had in mid November 1916.

In April 1917 William was again struck down, this time with trench fever, which had similar symptoms to influenza and which was later realised to be caused by the lice so prevalent in the trenches. William’s condition was sufficiently serious that he was evacuated to England on the 18th April, and after a spell of recuperation at a military hospital in Canterbury he returned to France at the end of July 1917, rejoining his battalion in mid August. He would have been involved with his battalion in major actions against the Germans at Menin Road in September and Poelcappelle in October. In 1918, the battalion was involved in repelling the German Spring Offensive, when the 20th was one of many Australian battalions that were hurried in to the line to stop it, and on 7 April 1918, they took part in a very sharp engagement at Hangard Wood. Once the German Spring Offensive was repelled the 20th Battalion were involved in the Allied counter attack, the 100 days Offensive, seeing action in the battles at Amiens and Mont St Quentin in August, before participating in the attack on the "Beaurevoir Line" at Montbrehain in October. This was their last engagement of the war as they were training out the line when the Armistice was signed.

The Battalion was disbanded on the disbanded on 20th  April 1919 and on the 29th May 1919 William boarded the Nestor bound for Australia, where he landed on the 4th September 1919. He had been officially discharged mid journey on the 19th August 1919. We’re not sure what happened to William after that but we know that e died in Australia on the 11th April 1930 at the age of just 40. We’re not sure what happened to his wife Margaret.

In terms of the rest of William’s family, his step-brother Raymond Bice’s story is told below. William’s father William Henry died in Burnley on the 6th November 1922 at the age of 60. His sister Lavinia had married Ewart Pilling on the 7th September 1907 and moved to Halton Terrace. Their daughter Dorothy Evans was born there on 16th October 1912. Ewart died in March 1932 in Dewsbury, Yorkshire and Lavinia died in June 1965 in Southport. We also know that their daughter Dorothy celebrated her 100th birthday in 2012 in Southport.

We believe William’s other sister Florence moved away from the area and married Sidney A J Meager  in Plymouth in 1912. If you can add anything to the story of William and his family please contact us.

Cadet Raymond Bice Ham

25093 Royal Air Force

Born 24 May 1900, Glenridding.  Died Jun 1972, Devon (Age 72)

Son of William Henry and Elizabeth Ellen (nee Bice) Ham, Glenridding

Husband of Florence Robinson

Raymond Bice Ham was born on the 24th May 1900 in Glenridding and baptised at the Wesleyan Chapel on the 8th July 1900. He was the son of William Henry Ham, an engine operator at the Greenside Mine, and his second wife Elizabeth Ellen Bice. When the March 1901 census was taken, Raymond, aged just 10 months, was living in Glenridding with his parents, half brother William Maurice (11) and half-sister Lavinia (14). By April 1911, Raymond, now 10 and attending school in Patterdale, was still living with his parents at 12, Stybarrow Terrace in Glenridding but William was living in the house of his married sister Lavinia in nearby Halton Terrace.

Raymond was living in Ryton-on-Tyne when he joined the Royal Air Force, two weeks after his 18th birthday. It is a little difficult to know exactly what Raymond during his time in the services. On the Glenridding Village Hall Roll of Honour he is shown as a Cadet in the OTC - which would imply that he was in the Officer Training Corps, which was an officer training cadre usually at Universities and still in existence today. However the only service record we have been able to find relates to time in the RAF and gives very little information and even that uses abbreviations such S. of A.G. (School of Air Gunnery?) and A.C.S. - Which could have stood for “Air Cadet Squadron” and would  tie in with him being part of an OTC style unit which could incorporate people from all three services. However it is also used as an abbreviation of “Airfield Construction Squadron” so we may never know. The last entry was on the 19th February 1919 with a posting to Clipstone, which was a major training base in the First World War in the Ling Forest near Mansfield. There is no evidence to suggest that he entered a theatre of war or left the shores of Britain before the 11th November 1918, so would not have been entitled to any medals.

Raymond married Florence Robinson in Sunderland around August 1926. He seems to have had quite a successful career, as we found him travelling first class, with his wife, from Montreal to Liverpool in September 1954 on board the liner 'Empress of Scotland'. In the passenger manifest he was described as a Company Director living in Guildford, Surrey. We believe he died in Devon in 1972 aged 72.

Please the section on Raymond’s brother William Maurice above for more on his siblings. If you have any information about Raymond or his relatives please let us know.