Cardy, William
Rifleman
No. 6751, 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
Killed in action on Thursday 27 April 1916 (aged 30)
Buried:
Ecoivres Military Cemetery, France (Grave I. G. 14)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Newtownards and District War Memorial
Newtownards Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Mark’s)
Brother of Lance Corporal James Cardy (No. 4/7078)
BIOGRAPHY
William Cardy was born on 25 July 1885 in Mark Street, Newtownards and he was a son of William and Jane Cardy (nee Turbit, sometimes Torbit) who were married on 16 March 1875 in Newtownards Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Mark’s). William Cardy from Mark Street, Newtownards was a son of John Cardy, a weaver. Jane Turbit from Frederick Street, Newtownards was a daughter of William Turbit, a miner.
The Cardy family lived at 115 Mark Street, Newtownards.
William Cardy Senior worked as a linen weaver and he and Jane had ten children including:
Unnamed Male Child (born 20 April 1875 in Frederick Street, Newtownards)
Jane (born 4 February 1877 in Mark Street, Newtownards)
Mary (born 19 October 1882 in Mark Street, Newtownards)
William (born 25 July 1885 in Mark Street, Newtownards)
Alexander (Sandy, born 17 March 1888 in Mark Street, Newtownards)
James (born around 1890)
Elizabeth (Lizzie, born 22 September 1893 in Mark Street, Newtownards)
Ellen Garrett (born 19 April 1898 in Mark Street, Newtownards)
Wm John (born around 1899)
Prior to the outbreak of the Great War William Cardy worked as a block printer and on 29 December 1906 he and Lydia Adeline Edmunds (sometimes Edmonds) were married in First Donaghadee Presbyterian Church. Both were factory workers from Newtownards and Lydia was a daughter of John Edmunds, a labourer.
William and Lydia Cardy (nee Edmunds) had five children:
William John (born 2 July 1907 at 16 Gotha Street, Belfast)
Jane (born prematurely 25 May 1909 in Thomas’s Street, Newtownards; died of debility 26 May 1909 aged 16 hours)
Lydia Adeline (born 8 August 1910 in Mark Street, Newtownards)
James (born 18 October 1912 in Mark Street, Newtownards)
Alexander (born 17 October 1915 in Mark Street, Newtownards)
William Cardy enlisted in Newtownards and he served with the 4th Battalion and then the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Rifles. In the winter of 1914/15 he suffered frostbite when he was in the trenches and was invalided home for a period.
Rifleman William Cardy made a will on 24 November 1915 and after he died his property and effects were received by his widow Lydia who lived at 107 Mark Street, Newtownards. Four of their children were still alive.
Rifleman William Cardy was 30 when he died on 27 April 1916. He was killed by shell-fire, some four months after his brother James had died of wounds. William’s brother Rifleman Alexander (Sandy) (No. 7164) was with him when he died.
William Cardy had been a member of LOL No. 1055 and after his death the secretary wrote to Lydia on behalf of members to express their sympathy. William’s wife, parents, brothers and sisters placed a For King and Country notice in the Newtownards Chronicle. In April 1917 Lydia placed an Our Heroes – In Memoriam notice in the Newtownards Chronicle and it contained the verse:
I little thought when he left home
That he would ne’er return;
That he so soon in death would sleep,
And leave me here to mourn,
But now, alas! with sorrowing heart,
Through life’s dark veil I tread;
The dearest one to me on earth
Lies numbered with the dead.
William’s brother, Sandy Cardy, died on Remembrance Sunday 1935 aged 47.
Rifleman William Cardy (No. 6751) was buried in Ecoivres Military Cemetery, France and he is commemorated on Newtownards and District War Memorial; in Newtownards Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Mark’s) and on the Newtownards Loyal Orange Lodge (LOL) No. 1055 Roll of Sacrifice.
It was reported in the County Down Spectator that his parents had four sons, two sons-in-law, and two grandchildren serving.