COSTLEY, William
| Service Number: | 3025 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 4 July 1915, RFA Territorial |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 1st Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Glasgow, Scotland, 1893 |
| Home Town: | Northcote, Darebin, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Valet |
| Died: | Stroke , St Kilda, Victoria, Australia , 28 June 1926 |
| Cemetery: |
Brighton General Cemetery, Victoria Church of England R 67 |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 4 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3025, 1st Infantry Battalion, RFA Territorial | |
|---|---|---|
| 8 Oct 1915: | Involvement Private, 3025, 1st Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Warilda embarkation_ship_number: A69 public_note: '' | |
| 8 Oct 1915: | Embarked Private, 3025, 1st Infantry Battalion, HMAT Warilda, Sydney | |
| 31 May 1916: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 3025, 1st Infantry Battalion, 3rd MD, Wounding Gallipoli |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Evan Evans
From Dan Jones
A soldier resting in an unmarked grave at Brighton General Cemetery, Victoria. Have I been forgotten?
96 years ago, 3025 Private William Costley, 1st Battalion AIF was laid to rest.
William Costley was born in about 1893 in Glasgow, Scotland, to Thomas Haig Costley (1857-1899), a stone mason, and Isabella Finlay Morrison (1863-1933). The third youngest of six children, he appears to have emigrated to Australia to be with his mother, siblings and extended family, all who arrived in Victoria in around 1911. Examining passenger lists, a 21-year-old William appears on the crew list of the S.S. Warilda, which arrived in Sydney on the 15 September 1912. His occupation on the ship is listed as a smokeroom steward. Evidently, he worked his passage over. He had settled down with his mother in Northcote, Victoria by the time the great war broke out. William Costley enlisted on the 4 July 1915 aged 23 years, stating two years previous service in the Royal Field Artillery Territorial, and giving his occupation as a ship’s storekeeper as well as a valet and a barman. Sailing overseas with the 10th Reinforcements of the 1st Battalion AIF in October 1915, he was taken on strength of battalion in Tel-el-Kebir military camp, Egypt, in early January 1916. Interestingly, the reinforcement travelled on the HMAT Warilda, which Costley had sailed on to Australia three years prior.
His service in the AIF was cut short however, as he was hospitalised for tonsillitis, bunions and bronchopneumonia in the following months. The pre-existing bunions it seems were made worse by the training in Egypt. He was declared medically unfit and sent back to Australia in March 1916. He was discharged in May of that year.
William Costley, died suddenly of a stroke on the 28 June 1926 in St Kilda, Victoria, and is buried in an unmarked grave in Brighton General Cemetery, Victoria (Church of England R 67). His occupation at his time of death was a motor driver. He was 33 years old. He was survived by his mother, one of his brothers and his sisters. His death certificate states that he never married.
William’s brother James Morrison Costley (1896-1929) also served during WWI. He served as a Private with the 19th Battalion AIF, 62nd Battalion AIF, and the AIF Canteens.
I will be submitting an application to the OAWG about marking his grave.
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