William Bradley was born in West Hartlepool in 1898 and was one of 13 children born to Joseph Bradley, a prop carrier in the timber yard, and his wife Jane Alice (formerly Jeffries nee Trotter) At the time of the 1911 census, the family lived in Wood Street and there were 8 children and two adults in the three rooms of the house. A further 6 children were born after 1911 although only 3 survived.
William was in the Royal Naval Reserve and joined HMS Natal as a Stoker. On 30th December, 1915, at just 18 years of age, he was tragically killed by an internal explosion on the ship as it lay in the Cromarty Firth. His body was not recovered and his mother Jane Alice living at 14, Wood Street, West Hartlepool, was informed of his death. William's parents later had two more children who never knew their brother.
