William Bowling

Able Seaman William Bowling – H.M.S. Victory

Early Life

William Bowling was born in 1883, the son of Thomas Bowling and Elizabeth Bowling. His family background is difficult to trace, with only limited census records surviving.

1881 Census 

The 1881 Census records William’s father, Thomas, Irish-born and then aged in his thirties, as an inmate of the Swansea Union Workhouse, an indication of the family’s hardship during those years.

Marriage and Family

1911 Census 

By the 1911 Census, William had married, and he and his wife were living at 42 Ebenezer Street, Swansea. William, then 28 years old, was employed as a dock labourer.

Civilian Life

Goal Records

Before the war, William came into contact with the law. In 1904, he was convicted of playing a game of chance and sentenced to 14 days in Swansea Prison.

South Wales Daily Post

Later, he appeared in court again in connection with marital difficulties, when his wife brought a case against him. The proceedings were reported in the South Wales Daily Post, underlining the troubled circumstances of his personal life.

Naval Service and Death

During the First World War, William served as an Able Seaman at H.M.S. Victory. Though once a famous warship, during the Great War Victory was no longer at sea, but instead a shore establishment at Portsmouth, serving as a central base for naval personnel.

On 26^th December 1916, William Bowling died while serving there. His cause of death was recorded as disease, one of the many non-combat fatalities that marked the toll of wartime service.

Burial

William Bowling
Danygraig Cemetery
credit - findagrave

Following his death, William’s body was returned to Swansea and laid to rest at Danygraig Cemetery. His grave represents the final First World War burial at the cemetery in 1916, closing a year that had already brought immense loss to Swansea families. It also stands as part of the wider record of local men who served with the Royal Navy, reminding us that wartime sacrifice was not confined to the battlefield but was also borne by those who succumbed to illness and hardship while in service.

Legacy

The burial of Able Seaman William Bowling marks the end of a tragic chapter in Danygraig’s wartime history for the year 1916. By then, the cemetery already held the graves of soldiers, sailors, and even one Australian, each representing a different thread of the war’s story. Bowling’s death, from disease rather than combat, reminds us that not all losses came in moments of battle — many stemmed from the harsh conditions of service itself. His grave stands as a closing note on a year of sacrifice, binding his memory to those of fellow servicemen who rest beside him at Danygraig.