Edward was born in November 1894 in Galgate, Lancaster and was the eldest Son of Mr William & Mrs Christiana Alice Hartley of Ward Cottage, Galgate.

In the 1911 census he was listed as single, a labourer with two younger siblings, Frederick William, and Agnes. Edward enlisted in January 1915 and served initially in the Kings Own and then the 15th Lancashire Fusiliers -15th (Service) Battalion (1st Salford).

Transferring to the 10th Battalion, he went to France in June 1916.His obituary (Lancaster Guardian dated 21st September 1918 page 3) says he was in hospital from December 1916 suffering from Trench feet and only returned to the front 6 weeks before his death. 

In 1918, the 10th Lancashire Fusiliers were part of 52 Brigade, 17th Division. 

The Battle of Bapaume, 21 August-3 September 1918

...was the second phase of the battle of Amiens, the British offensive often taken to be the turning point of the First World War on the Western Front. The British attack began on a narrow front on 21 August, with an attack by the Third Army. The Germans responded with a counterattack on 22 August, which was quickly beaten off. On 23 August Haig was able to order a general advance by the Third Army and part of the Fourth, on a 33-mile front. On 26 August, the right wing of the First Army joined in, extending the front to 40 miles (this attack is sometimes designated as the second battle of Arras of 1918). At that point, the German line ran along the Somme south from Péronne, then across open country to Noyon on the Oise. Ludendorff had ordered a retreat from the Lys salient and what was left of the Amiens salient, with the intention of forming a new line on the Somme. This plan was disrupted by the Australians, New Zealanders and Canadians. On 29 August, the New Zealanders captured Bapaume (east of Amiens, south of Arras), breaking through the Le Transloy-Loupart trench system. To the south the 2nd Australian Division captured Mont St. Quentin, on the east bank of the Somme, on the night of 30-31 August, and on 1 September captured Péronne itself. Further north, on 2 September the Canadians broke through the Drocourt-Quéant switch, a strong section of the German line south east of Arras. With two gaps in the proposed new front line, The Germans were forced to retreat back to the Hindenburg line, abandoning all of the territory won earlier in 1918. 

It appears Edward was killed during these operations. Edwards’s father was later sent Edward's British War Medal and the Victory Medal. He is commemorated on the Ellle War memorial