William Schofield was born on 17 June 1888, the son of Mr and Mrs J C Schofield, and joined the Royal Navy in May 1903. He was educated at the Grove Academy, Broughty Ferry, and was married to Mrs Catherine Mary Schofield of Airdrie House, Dresden, Stoke-on-Trent.

He joined the Royal Navy as a Cadet and served onboard the battleship HMS ALBEMARLE between 1904 and 1907 as a Midshipman and Acting Sub Lieutenant. After courses at the Royal Naval College Greenwich he was appointed to the battleship HMS TEMERAIRE before volunteering for the submarine service.

He joined submarines as a Lieutenant in September 1909. By 1912 he had qualified as a Submarine Commanding Officer and, in October 1912, he was appointed to command HMS A12. This was followed in March 1913 by command of HMS C29.

On 29 August 1915, C29 ran into an unexpected minefield off of the River Humber, while working with the trawler ARIADNE, and was lost with all hands. At the time, the submarine was being towed whilst dived and was in contact with the trawler when the mine exploded.

William Schofield was the husband of Catherine Mary Schofield. He is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial on Panel 5.