Lost when the steamship Linwood went missing in the North atlantic in January 1917.
William was born in Hartlepool sometime around 1867, the son of William Fairless, a carpenter from South Shields, and Margaret.
The 1891 Census records him as living at 3, Back St. Helens Place, Hartlepool, but by 1901 was living as a lodger in South Shields and listed as a Dock Labourer.