First World War in Headington & Marston
Roll of Honour of Holy Trinity Church, Headington Quarry

William Isaac TRAFFORD (1890–1915)

Some of this information is repeated under the previous entry for William Isaac Trafford’s brother Henry

William Isaac Trafford was born in Headington Quarry in 1880, the son of Robert Trafford (born at Shotover in Quarry parish and baptised at St Andrew’s Church on 27 July 1845) and his second wife Amelia Walker (born in Wheatley in 1854, registered third quarter).

William’s father Robert Trafford married his first wife Elizabeth Ann Ward (born at Shotover Hill Place and baptised at St Andrew’s Church on 26 August 1838) at Holy Trinity Church on 8 August 1868. At the time of the 1871 census they were living in Quarry, and Robert was working as a labourer. They soon had three children:

• Rosa Trafford (born in Headington Quarry on 6 April 1871 and baptised at New Inn Hall Street Wesleyan Chapel on 27 June 1871)
• Albert Robert Trafford (born in Headington Quarry on 17 December 1872 and baptised at New Inn Hall Street Wesleyan Chapel on 27 January 1873)
• Lilly (or Lily/Lillie) Trafford (born in Headington Quarry in 1875, registered second quarter and baptised at Holy Trinity Church on 27 April 1879, aged 4 years 3 weeks).

Robert’s wife died at the age of 39 in 1876 (death registered third quarter). He married his second wife, the spinster Amelia Walker (24), at St Andrew’s Church on 3 November 1877, and neither could sign their name in the marriage register. They had eleven children:

• Emily Jane Trafford (born in Headington Quarry in 1878/9, registered first quarter of 1879 and baptised at Holy Trinity Church on 27 April 1879)
• Henry James Trafford (born in Headington Quarry near the end of 1880, but not baptised at Holy Trinity Church until 3 August 1886 when he was “nearly 6 years”)
• Sarah Ann Trafford (born in Headington Quarry in 1882/3, registered first quarter of 1883, but not baptised at Holy Trinity Church until 3 August 1886 when he was 3½)
• Walter Thomas Trafford (born in Headington Quarry in 1884/5, registered first quarter of 1885, but not baptised at Holy Trinity Church until 3 August 1886, when he was 1½ )
• Edward Charles Trafford (born in Headington Quarry in 1886/7, registered first quarter of 1887 and baptised at Holy Trinity Church on 20 September 1887)
• Edith Mary Trafford (born in Headington Quarry in 1888/9, registered first quarter of 1889, baptised at Holy Trinity Church on 31 March 1889)
• William Isaac Trafford (born in Headington Quarry in 1890/1 and registered first quarter of 1891, but not baptised at Holy Trinity Church until 10 July 1907)
• Elizabeth Maud Trafford (born in Headington Quarry in 1892/3, registered first quarter of 1893 and baptised at Holy Trinity Church on 26 February 1893)
• Laura Annie Trafford (born in Headington Quarry in 1895, registered second quarter and baptised at Holy Trinity Church there at the age of two on 28 February 1897)
• Charles Frederick Trafford (born in Headington Quarry in 1896, registered fourth quarter of 1896 and baptised at Holy Trinity Church on 28 January 1897 with the name Charles Edward which was “mistakenly given by the mother”; died aged four months, buried at Holy Trinity churchyard on 17 February 1897)
• Ida Amelia Trafford (born in Headington Quarry in 1898, registered second quarter).

William’s father was a mason’s labourer, described as a “stone waller”. At the time of the 1881 census he was living at East View, Quarry with his second wife, his three children from his first marriage – Rosa (9), Albert (8), and Lillie (6) – and his first two children from his second marriage – Emily (2) and Harry himself (6 months).

At the time of the 1891 census the family was living at “Main Road” (Quarry High Street). Rosa (19) had left home and was working as a general servant in Hackney, but Albert (17) who was a general labourer and Lily (15) were still at home with the first seven children of the second marriage, including William himself, then a four-month-old baby.

By the time of the 1901 census all three children from the first marriage had left home, but of the ten surviving children from the second marriage, only Henry  (20) was missing. William’s mother was working in a laundry, his sisters Emily (21) and Sarah (18) were laundrymaids, and his brother Walter (16) was a carrier’s assistant. William (10) was at school.

By the time of the 1911 census William (20) was a general labourer. His parents were still living in Quarry High Street and five of his full siblings were at home: Henry (29) and Edward (23) were bricklayer’s labourers; Walter (25) was a roadman with the Headington District Board; Laura (15) was probably helping her mother, who was still doing laundry work; and Ida (13) was at school. Emily (32) was married and living in London and her sister Edith (22), who was working as a housemaid, was paying her a visit. Elizabeth (17) was a servant in West Kensington.

They were still in Quarry High Street in 1911, and William (20) was now a general labourer.

♥ In the second quarter of 1914 William Trafford married May Louisa S. Bishop (born in 1892, registered third quarter Headington District), and a few months later their only child was born:

• Alfred W. A. Trafford (born 1914, registered third quarter in Headington district).

In the First World War William Trafford served as a Private in the “D” Company of the ill-fated 2nd Battalion of the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (Service No. 13848). He died in France on 5 March 1915 and his grave is unknown. He is commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial (Panel 26), and on the stone plaque in the porch of Holy Trinity Church in Headington Quarry. (He must have thought he was 23, the age given by the CWGC, but he was in fact 24 at the time of his death.)

William’s brother, Walter Thomas Trafford, must have named his second son (born the next month, on 4 December 1915) William Isaac Trafford after his uncle.

William Trafford’s brother Henry also died as a result of the First World War, on 19 March 1919, at the age of about 39.

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Postscript

William’s parents

• Mrs Amelia Trafford died at 29 Quarry High Street at the age of 76 and was buried at Holy Trinity churchyard on 3 January 1931
• Robert Trafford died aged 87 at 12 Prison Quarters, Titmouse Lane, Oxford and was buried with his wife on 26 November 1932.

William’s widow

• Mrs May Louisa Trafford married Percy William Allen, a bus conductor, at Holy Trinity Church on 17 April 1926, and they had three children: Derek Allen (1927), John Allen (1929), and Roy Allen (1932).

William’s siblings

• Emily Jane Trafford (born 1879) married William Shorter at Holy Trinity Church on 26 December 1903. At the time of the 1911 census they were living at 12 Wolseley Road, Brentford, with three of their children (all born in Acton): Edith Amelia (4), Walter John (1), and Dorothy Ada (2 months). Their eldest child William (6) was staying with his grandparents in Quarry High Street.
• Henry James Trafford (born 1880) also died in the First World War: see separate page.
• Sarah Ann Trafford (born 1882/3) married Frederick Grimshaw at Holy Trinity Church on 25 December 1913.
• Walter Thomas Trafford (born 1884/5) married Edith Mary Dewe at Holy Trinity Church on 17 January 1914. They had two sons baptised at Holy Trinity: Robert Charles Trafford (born on 5 June 1914 and baptised on 26 July 1914) and William Isaac Trafford (born on 4 December 1915 and baptised on 30 January 1916).
• Elizabeth Maud Trafford (born 1892/3) married James Albin, a Corporal in the East Lancs Regiment, at Holy Trinity Church on 16 April 1919.