William John Gamble was born at 33 Hurst Street in Belfast, Ireland on 27 April 1883. He was the son of William Gamble, an engine driver, and Agnes Wainwright.

When Gamble appeared on the 1911 census he was described as a marine fireman, then as a member of crew aboard the Bray Head which was docked at Dublin. 

Gamble’s ship prior to Titanic had been the Rion. He joined Titanic at Belfast for the delivery trip to Southampton where he then disembarked.

Gamble remained at sea with the merchant fleet during WWI and continued to serve on British ships until around 1925. 

Around 1926 William Gamble emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts and became a naturalised US citizen in 1931. Maintaining his profession as a seaman in his new home, William was never married and in his last years resided at 60 Commercial Place in Norfolk, Virginia. He died on 16 December 1942 following a stroke and was buried in Norfolk’s Riverside Cemetery two days later.