Private William Orchard was born in 1784 in Mapperley, Derbyshire. He was 5 ft 4 inches tall and had blue eyes and brown hair. On the 10th September 1801, he enlisted for unlimited service at Nottingham at the age of 16 years. He was a Stockinger by trade.  

He served with the 45th Nottinghamshire Regiment of Foot in Buenos Ayres in 1807 and during the Peninsula War of 1808-1814. He was wounded at Badajoz in 1812 and was hospitalised. 

He was discharged at Cork on the 2nd November 1818 and was granted a pension at Kilmainham on the 14th November 1814.