TOPIC:

He's named on a memorial in Litherland parish church, near Bootle, but I can't find any mention of him in the local newspapers of the time. The memorial's inscription has him as having been killed at Spion Kop, on 24th January 1900, so he must be 5081 Private W. Hands, 2nd Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers. Does anyone have any further information on him, particularly where he came from?

Berenice,

In Ancestry, there is a possible match:

Name: William Henry Hands
Spouse: Cecilia Edwards
Father: Thomas Hands
Birth: abt 1873
Marriage: 31 Oct 1896 - Bootle, St Mary, Lancashire

Genes Reunites, to which I don't have access, says his address was 16 Surrey Street, Bootle.

He appears not to have been born there though.

From the 1891 census:

William Henry Hands
Birth: abt 1873 - Coventry, Warwickshire, England
Residence: Coventry, Holy Trinity, Warwickshire

Thanks, everyone. I'll have to go back and re-check the Bootle Times for early February 1900.