William's Story.
William, born in the early summer of 1893, was the elder son of Frank Higgins (1871 - 1957) and Alice Kennerley (1868 - 1911). He was brother to Evelyn (1895–1983), Olive (1897–1944), Ada Elizabeth (1900–1968), Winifred Mary (1902–1988) and Frank (1905–1968). William's mother Alice died in 1911, when William was 18 years old, and his father married Eunice Elizabeth Birkerton (1872–1951) in 1913. William then gained a half-sister, Joan, born in 1914.
In April 1911, William (18) was working on Manor Farm, Alsager, for the Heler family. His home address at the time of his enlistment on 22nd April 1915 was Rose Farm, Close Lane, Alsager. (By 1921, his father and stepmother had moved to Haslington, but their address there was also Rose Farm.)
In April 1911, William (18) was working on Manor Farm, Alsager, for the Heler family. His home address at the time of his enlistment on 22nd April 1915 was Rose Farm, Close Lane, Alsager. (By 1921, his father and stepmother had moved to Haslington, but their address there was also Rose Farm.)
In Flanders, William was attached to the 72nd Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps. He died of his wounds on 25th July 1917. He was 24 years old. He was buried at the Dickebusch Military Cemetery in Belgium.
William is remembered on the Alsager War Memorial. (NB He has no known connection to "Gunner J Higgins" whose name also appears on the memorial, although William had an uncle James Henry Higgins, born 1879, who had enlisted as a gunner in the Royal Artillery in 1900, regimental number 5706. However, that Gunner James Henry Higgins married Edith Bayes in 1919, and was still alive at the time of the 1921 census, so is almost certainly not the J Higgins on the memorial.)
Research by Shena Lewington (September 2026)
William is remembered on the Alsager War Memorial. (NB He has no known connection to "Gunner J Higgins" whose name also appears on the memorial, although William had an uncle James Henry Higgins, born 1879, who had enlisted as a gunner in the Royal Artillery in 1900, regimental number 5706. However, that Gunner James Henry Higgins married Edith Bayes in 1919, and was still alive at the time of the 1921 census, so is almost certainly not the J Higgins on the memorial.)
Research by Shena Lewington (September 2026)