First World War Wouldhaves part 2

Some of the military personnel who were involved in the First World War had Wouldhave as a middle name rather than their surname.  One such was Willie Wouldhave Stead.

Willie Wouldhave Stead

Newspaper Photo

 Willie Wouldhave Stead was born in 1887.  He was the grandson of Hannah Wright (nee Wouldhave) (HA109).  In this year the 18th-century boat-builder William Wouldhave (WI050) was commemorated by the Wouldhave Memorial, at Pier Head, South Shields for his part in the invention of the self-righting lifeboat.  It seems likely that Willie’s parents had this in mind when they chose his name.

Hannah was the daughter of Michael Wouldhave (MI101), a joiner and cabinet maker, who was originally established in Barnard Castle but moved to Leeds in the 1830s.  Hannah married Robert Wright, a bricklayer, in 1842 in Leeds but was widowed in 1849.  In the 1851 census she is living with her brother, John Henry Wouldhave (JO111), an upholsterer, in Ripon.  She has three children Sarah Jane, Henry and Fanny.

Willie’s parents, Arthur Stead and Sarah Jane Wright, married in 1882.  In the 1901 census, Willie is living in Spring Grove Walk in Headingley, Leeds with his father and mother, and his sister, Edith. Arthur was a tailor and died in 1908. In the 1911 census Willie is living with his widowed mother, his sister and two aunts Fanny Wood (formerly Stead) and Mary Ellen Stead (Arthur’s sister).  His mother, Sarah Jane died in 1912.

In the 1911 census, living at Hyde Park, Leeds, Willie’s occupation is Journalist for an evening paper.  Willie began his career as a journalist with the Yorkshire Evening News and rose to the position of Chief Reporter before moving to the Yorkshire Evening Post.  Accounts written after his death indicated he was popular with his colleagues having unfailing geniality and modesty.  He showed every promise of a successful career.  He was a member of the National Union of Journalists and served for four years as corresponding secretary of the Leeds Branch.

Willie was one of a group of Leeds Pressmen who joined the ranks of the Leeds ‘Pals’ Battalion at the outbreak of the Great War.  For several months they trained at Colsterdale in the Yorkshire Dales, Willie sending articles to the Yorkshire Evening Post during this time.  His merits were quickly recognised and he received a commission in another newly formed battalion, the Leeds Bantam Battalion. 

Newpaper photo of Leeds platoon,
Willie is on the right of the second row

In June 1915 he was involved in a serious road accident near Skipton with several brother officers.  They had hired a car to visit the Ilkley Picture House to see a film of the regiment.  During their return journey the car turned over at Chelker Reservoir and the occupants were thrown violently against a wall.  Although Second Lieutenant Willie Wouldhave Stead was bruised his injuries and that of a fellow journalist and officer, Arthur Tadman, were not serious. However one of the officers, Second Lieutenant Ernest Roscoe later died of his injuries. 

In August 1916 the battalion was at the Battle of the Somme. When one of his friends, Alex Monteith Hamilton, was injured, Willie wrote home to his friend’s mother to reassure her and his letter was published in the Leeds Mercury on 4^th August.  In it he said “The last fortnight, and especially the last three days, has been a living torture and a perfect hell, and Monty’s men have been falling today like ninepins, killed, wounded, shattered.  I have sole charge for the time being of a company, and last night we all escaped by the skin of our teeth…. Please excuse more, I am weary and jaded, almost to the breaking point, and shells are making things hot.”

Information from the war diaries show that on 24^th August the battalion moved up to the front line at the battle of the Somme.  There was heavy shelling early the following morning (25^th) and intense bombardment at 8pm.  The following day (26^th) was largely quiet. Although the newspapers indicate Willie was killed by enemy action on the 26^th August, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) gives his date of death as 25^th August, which has a better fit with the information from the war diaries.

Extract of war diary

A brother officer was quoted in the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer on 4^th September “He was an exceptionally smart officer, and when his company lost its commander the Colonel had no hesitation in handing over the reins to Lieutenant Stead.  He acted in this capacity for some time, and it was during his command of the company that the battalion had its most trying experience.  He never made a mistake and the work he accomplished called for the plaudits of all.  Poor Stead’s death had cast a gloom over the battalion.  I don’t think there was an officer in the battalion who was held in higher esteem.” The Yorkshire Evening Post on 31^st August said that “He was as brave as he was cheerful and capable, big-hearted, if small in stature, he endeared himself to his colleagues in civil life, and to his comrades after he joined the army…We shall miss a staunch colleague and a loyal friend.”

From the CWGC information, Willie was buried at Peronne Road cemetery, Maricourt.  His next of kin was his sister, Edith Stead, who was living at this time in South Street, Durham.