Private 29416, 3rd Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment
Died of illness, 3rd May 1916, age 19.
Remembered on a Special Memorial Christ Church Churchyard, Denton, UK.
Student of arts.
William was the son of Reverand R.T. Blackledge and his wife Ellen. His father was rector of Christ Church, Denton, near Manchester . William was educated at Manchester Grammar School and entered Manchester University in 1914 to study arts. In October 1915 he joined the University Officer Training Corps proceeding to Bristol on 3rd March 1916 as a member of A Company with 3rd Officer Cadet Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment. Six days later he was admitted to hospital to be treated for enteric and died on 3rd May 1916.
Reverand Captain Robert Dallas Blackledge, one of William’s brothers, dedicated the Denton War Memorial at it’s unveiling on 23rd July 1921.