William Gayford

Died: 19 November 1915

Rank and Regiment: Private 1836 of the Norfolk Yeomanry

Resting Place: buried at sea

Memorials: Helles Memorial, Turkey

He was the son of Edward John and Kate Gayford, who CWGC records describe as “of Hardingham, Attleborough, Norfolk”.

The Medal And Award Rolls record Disembarkation 8/10/15 followed by “Died of Wounds”. He died at sea on 19 November 1915. He was buried at sea and is commemorated on the Helles Memorial. A laconic telegram announcing his death survives. The probate of his will, granted in 1916 to his father Edward John Gayford, describes him as being “of Burnham Overy”; though he is not named on the War Memorial at Burnham Overy, either. He left an estate of £51 17s 3d., far more substantial than most of the Hardingham fallen.

What is the connection of William Gayford with Hardingham?

Edward John Gayford appears on the 1851 Census at Syderstone, and the 1861 Census reveals a very well-to-do family, Edward’s father William being described as “Farmer 1000 acres Occupy 25 Men, 6 Boys, 10 Women”. Edward is the eldest son and has seven siblings named, including Frederick, the third son, five years Edward’s junior. The family unit includes a governess and three servants (and two young visitors on Census night).

By 1871, Edward, aged only 26, was the head of the household and described as “Farmer of 1100 acres, employing 26 Men & 8 Boys”. Census night 1881 found Edward and his wife Kate and their children Mary, 4, and Maud, 1, visiting her parents John and Blanche Hickling at Cawston. John Hickling is described as “Farmer, Auctioneer and Estate Agent, 3,000 acres of Land Employ 67 Men 32 Boys & 5 Women”.

Few records of him survive, but we do know that William was baptised at Cawston on 1 August 1884, his parents being given as Edward John Gayford, farmer, and “Kate Hickling, alias Gayford” with a stern note “Married within the prohibited degrees of affinity”! Thereafter, in 1901 Edward, by now described as “Valuer & Commission Agent” and Kate were living at Guton Hall, Brandiston, and Edward, described as “Retired Farmer” was living at Burnham Overy on Census night 1911, Kate being at another address in Burnham Overy that night.

According to information included by his best friend Monty McCallum in a book A Scot in Canada, William emigrated to Canada in about 1909 but returned to enlist in August 1914.

Where, then, is the connection with Hardingham? There turns out to be a connection via Frederick, Edward’s younger brother, who is in the 1911 Census at “Hardingham, Attleborough, Norfolk”. So we may conclude that after the 1911 Census Edward and Kate were living with Frederick in Hardingham, and that William accordingly has a connection with the village and should be remembered there (as well as at Burnham Overy). He is, however, remembered in his adopted country; he is included in the Canadian Virtual War Memorial and on Page 567 of the First World War Book of Remembrance displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa, Canada.