Person

Named after his father a local saw mill worker, William Teasdale was born on 9 July 1884 in Burnopfield , the second of eight children born by his mother Jane. At the time of the 1891 census, William and his sister were staying with their Uncle Elisha and paternal grandmother in Hobson, whilst their parents and the rest of the family were listed as living in Newcastle. Ten years later, the family were all together and living in Tanfield, where young William was working as a groom. He was later to follow in his father’s footsteps and work with wood.

Married in 1907 to Emily Rebecca Archer from Gateshead, their first child Esme was born the following year while they were living in Newcastle. In March 1913 William left for Canada arriving in Halifax and crossing into the USA in order to travel west to Alberta. Settling in Edmonton, Emily and their two children followed fourteen months later, crossing the Atlantic on the Teutonic, the same ship as William.

May 1916 saw William enlisting ion the Canadian Expeditionary Force in their home town of Edmonton, becoming Private 279618 in the 218th Overseas Battalion under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel J. K. “Peace River Jim” Cornwall. After some initial training at Sarcee Camp in Calgary, the battalion sailed to England in February 1917 on board the SS Southland. On arrival they were transferred to the Canadian Railway Troops (CRT) depot, based at Purfleet in Surrey.

At the beginning of April, Private Teasdale was drafted to 6th Battalion CRT and joined them in Gombremetz, France in the middle of the month. Canadian Railway Troops were considered non-combatant troops and were unarmed for most of their service at the front. Their main function was laying tracks, digging ditches and any other job required to build railway lines. It was whilst working on some track near Marcoing on 30 November 1917 that Private Teasdale was reported missing after heavy machine gun fire and shelling. He was later presumed to have died on or after that date.

William Teasdale has no known grave and is commemorated on the Vimy Memorial.

Civil Parish: Tanfield

Birth date: 9-Jul-1884

Death date: 30-Nov-1917

Armed force/civilian: Army

Residence: 13 Hobsob, Burnopfield (1891 census)
Sheep Hill, Tanfield (1901 census)
49 Louvaine Place, Newcastle upon Tyne (1911 census)

Religion: Church of England

Employment: Groom (1901 census)
Wood turner (1911 census)

Family: Parents: William Teasdale, Jane Teasdale, nee Grundy
Siblings: John Teasdale, Rachael Teasdale, Isabella Teasdale, Elisha Teasdale, Elizabeth Teasdale, Alice Teasdale, Jane Teasdale
Wife: Emily Rebecca Teasdale, nee Archer
Children: Esme Teasdale, Ernest Teasdale

Military service:

Private 279628
218th Overseas Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force
6th Battalion Canadian Railway Troops

Medal(s): British War Medal
Victory Medal

Memorial(s): Vimy Memorial

Gender: Male

Contributed by Jean Longstaff, Durham | (Mod - Gemma, Durham University Intern)