William John Conway

Corporal

7th Battalion

Black Watch 

(Royal Highlanders)

William John Conway, was born on 1 October 1895 in Belfast the eldest son of Robert Conway and Margaret Jane Moore, my 2 x great grandparents who were married on 9 February 1892 in Ballygilbert Presbyterian Church, Bangor, Down, Ireland.  The family lived in nearby Conlig and also at 34 Well Street, Belfast before moving to Scotland (sometime between 1905 and 1908) where they lived at 13 Townhead Street, Stevenston, Ayrshire.  

In the 1911 census, William, aged 15, was working as a cattle boy for John Matthews on Girthill Farm, Ardrossan. Before enlisting he was employed by J. Morrison & Sons, Stevenston, Bread and Pastry Manufacturers, where he was serving his time as a baker.

William joined the Royal Highlanders Black Watch and went to France on 20 September 1915 and served with the 7th Battalion. He was 22 when he was killed in action on 26 March 1918 during the German Spring Offensive.  The 17 May 1918 edition of the Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald reported that Corporal William John Conway was missing in action and later it was officially confirmed that he must be presumed to have been killed.

Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France

William has no known grave and is commemorated on the Arras Memorial in France and on the Conway family grave headstone in Bangor Cemetery, Down, Ireland.

Bangor Cemetery, Newtownards Road, Bangor, Down, Northern Ireland

Also commemorated on the family headstone are his grandfather William John Conway who died at Conlig on 15 May 1919 (aged 76); his grandmother Agnes Jane Conway who died at Conlig on 4 January 1922 (aged 70) and his blind uncle, Hugh Conway, who died at Conlig on 25 September 1918 (aged 43).