William Henry Stribley (known as Harry) was born in Padstow, Cornwall in 1894. After arriving in Adelaide in 1912 he lived with his parents at John Street, Hindmarsh – only ten minutes’ walk from Hindmarsh Oval. He played for Hindmarsh reserves in 1914, and was promoted to the first team in 1915 as players began to enlist.
Hindmarsh won the Cambridge Cup, but Stribley did not play in the final. He enlisted in the AIF in January 1916, giving his occupation as “carpenter”, and was sent to Egypt where the 48th Battalion were forming. In France in April 1917, Stribley was charged with an AWL offence, but at Bullecourt shortly afterwards he remained on duty whilst wounded, and was later awarded the Military Medal.
Harry Stribley was returned to England with appendicitis in May 1918 and was discharged in Adelaide the following year. He was twice married: firstly to Mabel Timmins in 1922; and after she died in 1934 to May Koop in 1937.
William Henry Stribley died at his home in Prospect in January 1941, aged only 46. He was still working as a carpenter at the time of his death.