COPESTAKE

		Source
		CWGC	SDGW	Uttoxeter Advertiser	Other
Parents
Where born	Dresden, Longden		Yes		2
When born	About 1863				4
Address	14 Balance Street, Uttoxeter	Yes
Address	Balance Street, Uttoxeter			1a, 1e
Spouse	Annie Hurndall Copestake, of 14, Balance St, Uttoxeter	Yes			2
Spouse	Yes			1d
Children	Three daughters			1d
Children	Three daughters: Marjorie, Nancy and Kitty			1f
Employment Before Joining up	Bank Manager			1d
When enlisted	21^st June 1915			1a
Where enlisted	Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire		Yes		2
Regiment & Unit	Royal Army Medical Corps -	Yes	Yes	1a	2
	Clerical Department			1a
	No. 1 Coy.	Yes
	1^st Company				2
Rank	Private	Yes	Yes	1d, 1f	2
Service Number	60290	Yes	Yes		2
Date of Death	2 November 1917	Yes	Yes		2
Age at time of death	52	Yes			2

William Copestake was well-known in the Uttoxeter district^[1d]. In 1898 he opened a branch of Messrs. Crompton and Evans’ Bank in the town and he was the bank manager there for many years^[1d]. His obituary in the Uttoxeter Advertiser^[1d] said that his genial and sociable character helped to make the branch very successful.

Before coming to Uttoxeter he had worked for the banking firm at Belper and had served them in various capacities for about 35 years^[1d].

He took an active interest in a number of institutions in Uttoxeter and generally acted in the official capacities of secretary or treasurer^[1d]. His obituary said that his services were highly appreciated. This was particularly so in the local feathered world and sport circles because he was a keen poultry enthusiast, took part in cricket and enjoyed fishing^[1d].

Although he was well over military age when war broke out, a feeling of patriotic duty drove him to enlist as a clerk in the Royal Army Medical Corps at the beginning of June, 1915^{[1a,
1d, 2]}. He went to Aldershot on the 21^st of June 1915^[1a] and was engaged in the Record Office in Woking.

On the 14^th June 1916, the Uttoxeter Advertiser reported on an incident of local interest which he had related while home on leave^[1b]:

His battalion had formed a band and it was stationed in the South of England. While talking to a drummer he chanced to glance at the drum and discovered that it carried the inscription ‘Denstone Temperance Band’. About twelve months beforehand, a Denstone boy had been at the same camp and suggested that the authorities should write to Denstone to ask them for the loan of the old Temperance Band’s instruments, which were not in use at the time.

He was serving at Fleet, Hampshire in January 1917^[2], ten months before his death.

The circumstances leading up to his death were described in the Uttoxeter Advertiser on 7^th November 1917^[1d].

He had been unwell for a long period, but had managed to discharge his duties at the Record Office, Woking, until about three months before he died^[1d]. He had visited his wife and family in Uttoxeter and was admitted into hospital shortly afterwards^[1d].

He had been in St. Bartholomew’s Hospital and was moved to the West London General Hospital in Camberwell about two weeks before he died^[1d]. On the day of his death he was in a YMCA hut, but suddenly collapsed^[1d].

On 14^th November 1917 the Uttoxeter Advertiser^[1f] published a description of his funeral.

Before the interment a short service was conducted at the Parish Church. A large number of people attended, including a detachment of about thirty of the local Volunteers. Six of the Volunteers acted as pall-bearers.

With reversed arms the Volunteers then led the cortege to the cemetery. After the committal, a firing party of 12 fired three volleys over his grave and the ‘Last Post’ was sounded by Sergeant Cowan of the Denstone Officers’ Training Corps.