William Farmer was born in 1892 in St Lukes, London. His parents were James and Miriam Jessie (née Casbard), who had both been domestic servants at Trowle Manor in Bradford on Avon.
James was from Melksham but Miriam came from London, where the couple returned to marry and where William was born. James and Miriam came back to Wiltshire and continued to live in the county, but William stayed in Middlesex living with relatives.
He enlisted in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in Dublin in 1909 and attended The Royal Military School of Music in Kneller Hall, Middlesex to be trained as a drummer.
William was part of the British Expeditionary Force and embarked for France on 20th August 1914. He was taken prisoner during the First Battle of Mons, but managed to escape with a Lieutenant Stack and returned to British lines. He fought in the First Battle of the Somme and was wounded on the 6th September 1916 in the village of Guillemont.
William was serving with the 3rd Battalion in Ireland in 1917, where he met & married Martha Helen Wylie from Londonderry. He died in hospital at Park Hall Military Hospital, Oswestry, on November 8th, 1918. He was 26 years old.
His body was returned to Corsham for burial in the Ladbrook Lane Cemetery. It is known that his mother Miriam lived at Half Way Farm, Corsham, so it is a presumption that she was living in the locality at the time of her son’s death.
