NICHOLLS, William John
(Service number 36354)
| First Rank | Private | Last Rank | Private |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 9 September 1882 | Place of Birth | Timaru |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 20 September 1916 | Age | 34 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | 420 Montreal Street, Christchurch | ||
| Occupation | Joiner | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Married. One child | ||
| Next of Kin | Mrs E. NICHOLLS (wife), 420 Montreal Street, Christchurch | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Expeditionary Force | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 21st Reinforcements, Canterbury Infantry Battalion, C Company | ||
| Date | 21 January 1917 | ||
| Transport | Ulimaroa | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | Plymouth, Devon, England | |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | Canterbury Regiment | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | British War Medal; Victory Medal | ||
Award Circumstances and Date
No information
Prisoner of War Information
| Date of Capture | |
|---|---|
| Where Captured and by Whom | |
| Actions Prior to Capture | |
| PoW Serial Number | |
| PoW Camps | |
| Days Interned | |
| Liberation Date |
Death
| Date | 20 March 1953 | Age | 70 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Nelson | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Whakapuaka Cemetery, Nelson | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
William John Nicholls was born on 9 September 1882 at Timaru, the older son of William and Mary Jane Jackson (née Hughes) Nicholls. His father, who was a compositor with the “Timaru Herald”, died on 26 May 1884 at Timaru. William was only 20 months old and his younger brother, Francis, three months old. In 1895 Mary Jane Jackson Nicholls married Albert Mulford, by whom she had three more children.
William married Edith Hamilton on 12 May 1904 at Christchurch. Their son, William Hamilton Nicholls, was born on 20 September 1904 at Christchurch. Edith was William’s nominated next-of-kin when he left Christchurch and enlisted on 20 September 1916 at Trentham. He had served for eight years with the Ashburton Rifles Volunteers until he left the district.
William and Edith appeared to go their separate ways, and he married Rata Emma Ford in 1949. Private W. J. Nicholls, 36354, Canterbury Regiment, died on 20 March 1953 at Nelson, aged 70 years. He was buried at Whakapuaka Cemetery in the servicemen’s area.
William John Nicholls and Arthur Spargo Clarke, who were both born at Timaru and who both served in World War One, shared a grandmother, Sarah Spargo. Sarah married John Nicholls in 1855 and, after John’s death, married William Clarke (1863).
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [21 November 2020]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [26November 2020]; Timaru Cemetery headstone images (Timaru District Council) [21 November 2020]; Timaru Herald, 16 September 1916 (Papers Past) [26 November 2020]
External Links
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Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG
Currently Assigned to
Not assigned.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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