William Ernest Stubbs, born on 24th October 1895, was admitted to King Edward’s School on 21st September 1909, having previously attended Cambridge House School, Lyttleton Road, Edgbaston. He lived with his mother, Ida, and two younger siblings at 121, Poplar Avenue, Edgbaston; William’s Pupil Record Card reveals that whilst he was at School, his father, also named William and a solicitor, was working abroad. William’s brother, Reginald, was also an Old Edwardian, but his name is not listed in the KES Service Record.
William was a pupil of the Classical School, meaning he studied subjects such as Latin as opposed to science or botany. He was taught by CH Heath, who gives his name to one of the eight Houses into which boys are sorted at KES today. William was placed just above average in his class, though he performed significantly better at mathematics than at French. After leaving School in 1911, he became a bank clerk at the Acocks Green branch of Lloyds Bank.
In 1914, William enlisted as a Private Soldier with the 14th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, in which many Old Edwardians served. The Battalion landed at Boulogne on 21st November 1915 and William spent his entire military career in France. He was reported missing on 23rd July 1916, later presumed killed, aged twenty. As his body was never recovered, William is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial and on the Lloyds Bank War Memorial, alongside fellow Old Edwardian and Lloyds Bank employee, Frank Secker. He left his estate of £77 to his father.