Most people with an interest in Black British history will be aware of the story of Walter Tull, the mixed race orphan boy who became a professional footballer with Tottenham Hotspurs and Northampton Town before enlisting to serve in the Army in World War One. Walter Tull was one of the first Black men to become an officer in the British Army (even though Army regulations at the time specified that only men of ‘pure European descent’ could be officers – Tull’s grandfather had been a slave on Barbados). He was killed in action, leading his men, on 25th March 1918.
The stories of his two older brothers, William:
and Edward are less well known. This page will focus on William.
The boys’ happy childhood in Folkestone, Kent, was shattered by a series of events that would have broken the spirits of many children. Their mother, Alice, died in 1895 when William was 13 and the brothers, Edward and Walter, were 8 and 6 respectively. Daniel re-married but, in 1897, he too died. Their step-mother was simply unable to cope with her large family and so Edward (age 10) and Walter (8) were sent away to a children’s home in the East End of London. The eldest boy, William, stayed at home, most probably because, unlike his young brothers, he was past the age when he had to attend school and could work and bring in a much needed income.
William appears in the census for 1901 and 1911. In 1901 it is clear that he has left home. He hasn’t moved all that far though as he is living as a boarder at 37 Oswald Road in Dover, just a few miles from his step-mother. His young life has changed dramatically by the time of the 1911 census. On 26th December 1903 he had married Gertrude May Boxer and the 1911 census shows him living with Gertrude and their four children at Princess Street in Folkestone.
What makes William particularly interesting is that we know he served in the Army during the First World War. This makes him and his brother Walter one of the few known examples of two Black British brothers who served in that war. Unfortunately his service record is one of the many from that period that has not survived and so nothing is known about where he served. The known facts are:
- he died of tuberculosis on 12th March 1920;
- his death certificate shows his occupation as ‘house carpenter’ but also ‘ex sapper – Royal Engineers’;
- he is buried in Cheriton Road cemetery, not far from his parents) and his final resting place is marked by a Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) headstone;
- the headstone shows his service number as 545340 and that he was a sapper in the Royal Engineers.
Although he survived the war he was entitled to be commemorated by a CWGC headstone as the cut off date for such memorials was 31st August 1921 (this is why soldiers like Lionel Turpin, who has his own page on this site, can lie in an unmarked grave. Turpin, who clearly died as a result of wounds received while fighting in France, survived until 1929).
There is something of a mystery surrounding William. Because he served he should have been entitled to a War Medal and a Victory Medal. There are a number of men named William Tull on the medal rolls that record the award of such medals but none of them seems to have served with the Royal Engineers.
Walter Tull’s name is one that often comes up when the contribution of Black soldiers in World War One is discussed, it seems a shame that his brother, William, is rarely mentioned. He too served his country and his grave, tucked away in a cemetery in Folkestone, commemorates his service.