BORN COTTINGHAM 1881. SON OF ELIZABETH EMBLEY, OF 3 GOULDINGS BUILDINGS, SYKES STREET, HULL. BEFORE THE WAR HE WORKED ON THE DOCKS AND WAS WELL KNOWN IN FOOTBALL CIRCLES AS “FLIP”. HE ENLISTED IN THE HULL PALS. KILLED IN ACTION IN THE ATTACK ON SERRE, ON 13/11/1916, AGED 34. HE WAS MARRIED WITH THREE CHILDREN, THE OLDEST BEING NINE YEARS. THEY LIVED AT 6 BEETON STREET, HOLDERNESS ROAD. HIS DEATH WAS REPORTED IN THE HULL DAILY MAIL ON THE 18TH DECEMBER 1916, WITH HIS PHOTOGRAPH. *
Hull Pals Memorial Post. PRIVATE WILLIAM EMBLEY 12/426. Born in Cottingham in 1881, William was one of six children and the only son of William and Elizabeth Embley. Both parents were deceased when he enlisted. Described as 5 foot, 5.5 inches tall, 137 lbs weight, 36 inch chest, grey eyes and brown hair, tattoos.
Husband of Ellen Irene Embley, of 12 Herbert’s Terrace Barnsley Street, Hull and later 10 Victoria Terrace, Beeton Street, Holderness Road. They had three children. Employed as a dock Labourer.
He enlisted in Hull, on 09/09/1914. Trained at Ripon camp. Served with the Hull Pals, in Egypt and France. He was killed in action, at Serre, on 13/11/1916, aged 34. His army effects were left to his widow, EllenA Dock Labourer by trade he married Ellen Hawkins at St. Philip’s in Hull in 1903 and the couple lived at 6 Charlotte’s Terrace, Beeton Street, Holderness Road with their three children- Harry, Wilfred and Irene. Apparently he was well known in Hull football circles and had the nickname ‘Flip’, which immediately makes me want to know why….though I doubt we’ll ever know. Flip enlisted at City Hall in September 1914 joining the 12th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, ‘The Sportsmen’, 3rd Hull Pals. The photograph below shows the battalion before they left for France, with William front row second from left….it also shows two officers with their faces crossed out, apparently the result of Ellen Embley blaming them for her husband’s death. Flip was serially reluctant to return from leave and has multiple charges for overstaying passes and missing parades on his record during training. He served in Egypt from December 1915 to March 1916 when the Pals left Port Said bound for Marseilles and the journey north to the trenches of the Western Front. William was killed in action on 13th November 1916 at Serre on the Somme. Initially listed as missing, he was confirmed to have been killed by his Lieutenant, and his body was eventually discovered and buried in Euston Road Cemetery; he was 34 years old.
