William joined Hambledon village school as a four-year-old in April 1872. The school records show that he had completed his “Standard One” basic education by 1875, although he does not seem to have continued to achieve passes in the higher standards provided at the school. Like most village children at the time he only spent a few years in full-time education and he left the school in April 1879 when he was 11 years old. After leaving school he helped his father with work on the estate where the family were tenant workers.

Then, at the age of 21, William joined the Royal Navy as a trainee stoker. From that point on he was living at sea or in Portsmouth, or much later, in Cardiff. For two periods during his Navy career he lived for several years in the Antarctic on Captain Scott’s expeditions. But the countryside never seemed to be far from his mind as many entries in his Antarctic diaries reveal and as Captain Scott observed on more than one occasion.

On October 19^th, 1896 William was in Hambledon to marry Alice Cox in the village church. After their wedding they set up home in Portsmouth where their daughter Alice was born on 26th February 1900.

William retained strong links with the village and wrote to his mother there from the Antarctic. The children at the village school also followed his exploits. On August 1st 1913, the school Log Book records how he arrived at school, just a few days after receiving his Albert Medal for saving Lieutenant Evans’ life on Scott’s second expedition, to talk to the children.

Next: Retirement