BORN HULL 1900. ELDEST SON OF SGT. WILLIAM ALEXANDER STEWART, & LAURA ANNIE (HARPER), of 13 NORNABELL STREET & THEN 5 MINNIE TERRACE, WALLER STREET, HULL. WILLIAM ALEXANDER STEWART WAS ONE OF THE YOUNGEST HULL SOLDIERS KILLED IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR.
HE JOINED THE ARMY AT ONLY 14 YEARS AND FIVE MONTHS. HE DIED OF WOUNDS ON 13TH JULY 1916, AGED 15 YEARS & 9 MONTHS. HE HAD BEEN IN FRANCE SINCE JANUARY 1916. HAD HE LIVED A FURTHER FOUR MORE DAYS HE WOULD HAVE BEEN DISCHARGED FROM THE ARMY. THE NEW ORDER THEN CAME IN FORCE TO LIBERATE ALL LADS UNDER 18 YEARS OLD. HIS FATHER HAD SERVED WITH THE ROYAL MARINES, COLOURS AND RESERVES FOR 25 YEARS AND WAS A CLERK AT R.J. HARPER, SHIPWRIGHTS, AT 32 SILVER STREET, HULL. HE REJOINED AND WAS A SERVING SERGEANT, IN THE HULL HEAVY BATTERY, ROYAL GARRISON ARTILLERY, WHEN HIS SON DIED.
WILLIAM STEWART’S DEATH AGED 15 WAS REPORTED IN THE HULL DAILY MAIL ON 6TH SEPTEMBER 1916, WITH HIS PHOTOGRAPH.*
