Private William Crowder was born in 1780 in Nottingham. He was 5 foot tall and had dark eyes, a fresh complexion, and brown hair. He was a Sawyer by trade. 

In 1801, he enlisted into the Notts Militia and served with them until August 1807, when he volunteered into the 45th Nottinghamshire Regiment of Foot at the age of 17 years. On the 22nd June 1808, he volunteered into the 1st Battalion and served in the Peninsula War of 1808-1814. 

In 1808, he landed in Portugal with a detachment of the 45th. He was one of the Forlorn Hope at the storming of Fort Picariene at Badajoz and on this occasion escaped being wounded by the enemy but fell from one of the scaling ladders and suffered a hernia, the effects of the fall being felt ever afterwards. He was wounded at Talavera in the left hand. He was also present at the Battle of Nive, and the affairs of Campo Mio and Tarboz. 

On the 6th November 1814, he was discharged and granted a pension at Chelsea on the 23rd March 1852. He sadly died of natural causes on the 1st January 1871 at the age of 85 years