The son of William Edward and Phoebe King, Edward was born in Wolverhampton on 15 January 1894. In 1901, they were living at 110 Stafford Road, Wolverhampton, along with Edward’s siblings Lillie Charlotte, Florrie Ethel, William Albert, Emily Ida and Eliza May.
Edward enlisted in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (number R/6395) as an Able Seaman, and became part of the Hawke Battalion, Royal Naval Division. He died on 4 September 1918. He is buried at the Bac-du-Sud British Cemetery in Bailleulval, France, and is remembered on the Springfields memorial