William Roles

Bank: National Provincial Bank of England

Place of work: London Marylebone branch

Died: 12 October 1918

William George Roles was born in Brockley, London, on 21 December 1878, the son of George Roles, an employee of National Provincial Bank of England, and his wife Eliza Ellen.

In December 1896, when he was 17 years old, Roles followed in the footsteps of his father and his older brother John by going to work for National Provincial Bank of England, starting at the bank's London head office. He was appointed a clerk at London Marylebone branch in February 1903.

During the First World War Roles left the bank to join the army, becoming a Rifleman in the London Regiment. He was killed in action in France on 12 October 1918. He was 39 years old and left a widow, Sarah Charlotte, an 8-year-old son William Stanton, and a 5-year-old daughter, Ethel Norah. Both children later became beneficiaries of the Bank Clerks' Orphanage, which helped to pay for the education of deceased bank workers.

William Roles is commemorated on a bank war memorial held at NatWest Group Archives.