Former railway clerk William Brough Berry Harrison died of wounds in France on 10th June 1915, aged 20, serving as a Corporal with the 1st/7th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
He was born on 17th October 1894, the third and youngest child of bricklayer’s labourer Leonard Lovelace Beverley Harrison (known as Beverley) and his wife, Emma (née West) who had married on 30th May 1886 at St Alphege Church, Solihull at which time the groom was aged 30 and the bride was 21. The newly-weds set up home at Elmdon Heath, where their two eldest children, Florette Annie and Alfred, were born in 1887 and 1889 respectively. At the time of Alfred’s baptism on 14th April 1889 the family was living at Lugtrout Lane, Catherine-de-Barnes.
By 1901, the family had moved to Warwick Road, Solihull and they were recorded as living at The Gardens, Warwick Road, Solihull on the 1911 census. On the 1911 census, William is aged 16 and listed as a railway clerk.
Alan Tucker’s unpublished research into the Royal Warwickshire Regiment 1914-18 indicates that William enlisted in August 1914 at Birmingham and died of wounds at Messines Ridge. He is buried at Le Treport Military Cemetery and his medal index card notes that he first entered a Theatre of War on 22nd March 1915.
He is commemorated locally on the Solihull war memorial and also on the Coventry roll of honour. His parents had moved to Coventry by 1921 – their address on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission database is listed as 160, Stoney Stanton Road, Coventry.
If you have any more information about the Harrison family, please let us know.
Tracey
Heritage & Local Studies Librarian
tel.:0121 704 6977
email: heritage@solihull.gov.uk
Solihull Life 
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