Ernest was born in about 1882 son of Thomas and Harriet of Wrenthorpe, Wakefield. His brother Fred was also KIA.

Ernest married Amy Jefferson at St Anne's Wrenthorpe on 25th Dec 1904. He was a 23 year old miner and she was 21. In the 1911 census they were living at 7, Pentonville Place Stanley Rd Wakefield with their two children Lily and Walter Ernest. They had also had two more children who had died. The following year they had Mabel.  His obituary in the Wakefield Express reads

" Private Ernest Leather KOYLI died from wounds in a casualty clearing station, France on April 27th. Prior to the war he worked at Newton Colliery and enlisted in November 1914. He was 36 years of age and a late verger of St Andrew's Church. He leaves a widow and three children, who reside at Brick Yard, Greenhill Eastmoor."

Janet Wilsher