John Fulton was the eldest son of James and Mary Fulton. He was born in Bellaghy on 22nd March 1885. He was one of eight children. This farming family lived in Drumlamph, Bellaghy. John Fulton became Commander of the Castledawson Ulster Volunteer Force in October 1914.Commander John Fulton died of pneumonia in Belfast on Sunday 11th April 1915. John Fulton is buried in Castledawson Presbyterian Church churchyard. John Fulton is erroneously listed on Castledawson War Memorial.
Further Information
John Fulton is listed on Castledawson War Memorial. His photo hangs in the War Memorial Hall, Castledawson. However, John did not serve in the war.
John Fulton was the eldest son of James and Mary Fulton. James Fulton and Mary were married on 5th August 1878 in the district of Magherafelt.
John Fulton was born in Bellaghy on 22nd March 1885. He was one of eight children.
Family: James Fulton, Mary Fulton, Annie Fulton (born 19th June 1879), Sarah Jane Fulton (born 18th March 1881), Mary Fulton (born 18th April 1883), John Fulton (born 22nd March 1885), Ellen Fulton (born 6th December 1886, Bella Fulton (born 27th July 1889), James Fulton (born 10th September 1891), Esther Fulton (born 24th March 1894, died 11th June 1895).
John’s father, James Fulton, died on 10th March 1899 in the Bellaghy area. He was 47 years old.
The 1901 census list John as age 16, living with the family at house 13 in Drumlamph, Rocktown, Londonderry. His mother was a widow. They were a farming family.
The 1911 census list John as age 26, living with the family at house 34 in Drumlamph, Bellaghy.
John Fulton was married sometime between the 1911 census and his death in 1915. There is a marriage of a John Fulton and Catherine (Kate) McKinney on 4th October 1912 in the district of Cookstown.
John Fulton became Commander of the Castledawson Ulster Volunteer Force in October 1914, succeeding Georg Weir, who along with 25 others, had gone off to enlist at Finner Camp.
John Fulton was W.M. of Castledawson L.O.L. No 96. He was also an officer of the Royal Black Preceptory and of Masonic Lodge No 291, Bellaghy.
John was also the founder and the moving spirit of the Forge Christmas Day Shooting Competition, which annually attracted crowds of expert shots from all over Ulster, and which had come to be regarded as the South Derry ‘Bisley’.
He was described in the local newspaper as ‘the most popular young man in the district’.
John Fulton became Commander of the Castledawson Ulster Volunteer Force in October 1914, succeeding Georg Weir, who along with 25 others, had gone off to enlist at Finner Camp.
From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 3rd October 1914:
Mr John Fulton, the new commander of the Castledawson U.V.F., presented Mr George Weir, who now commands the twenty-five who have gone, with a dressing case, on behalf of the section commanders of the company. Commander Weir replied on behalf of himself and the men for all the gifts, and he and his fellow Volunteers would have an opportunity of seeing Berlin before they again saw Castledawson. The remainder of the evening was spent in dancing. Enthusiastic scenes were witnessed on Tuesday morning, when Commander Weir and his companions departed for Finner Camp by the first morning train. Everyone in the village was astir at an early hour, and crowds had assembled at the volunteer headquarters, when Commander Weir paraded his men. Castledawson First Company Boys Brigade, under Lieutenants Hueston and Evans, headed the procession to the railway station and Castledawson and Tullinkesey Companies U.V.F. brought up the rear. The men, who departed in high spirits amid the cheers of hundreds, were – Commander George Weir, Signaller Hiram Kerr, and Privates Bob Loughrey, Henry Loughrey, William Bradley, George Sampson, Robert Woods, George Garvin, Jim Milligan, Hugh Leslie, David Fulton, Bob Speer, Jack Harte, Tom Trainor, Sam Campbell, Frank Hueston, George McNeill, Henry Brown, Eddie Mawhinney, Tom Pickering, John Evans, Samuel White, James McFadden, George Garvin and John Overend.
From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 30th January 1915:
Castledawson and Tullinkesey companies U.V.F., under the command of Mr John Fulton, C.O., had a field day in the grounds of Moyola Park Castle on Saturday. Rev W Hogarth, adjutant, inspected the men and put them through a series of field evaluations.
Commander John Fulton died of pneumonia in Belfast on Sunday 11th April 1915.
John had gone to Belfast some days previous for treatment by a specialist in pneumonia. He passed away on the Sunday evening at the residence of his uncle in Belfast.
From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 17th April 1915: Ulster Volunteer Funeral at Castledawson
It was almost with incredulity that Castledawson received the melancholy intelligence on Monday morning that Mr John Fulton, the commander of the Castledawson Company of the Ulster Volunteers, had passed away on the previous evening at the residence of his uncle in Belfast, where he gone some days previous for treatment by a specialist in pneumonia. Only in his 30th year, and up till the attack which so quickly proved fatal, in the enjoyment of robust health, it could scarcely seem possible that John, the foremost in every manly sport, and the most popular young man in the district, was indeed dead. Besides being the commander of the local company of the Ulster Volunteer Force, the late Mr Fulton was W.M. of Castledawson L.O.L. No 96, an officer of the Royal Black Preceptory and of Masonic Lodge No 291, Bellaghy. He was also the founder and the moving spirit of the Forge Christmas Day Shooting Competition, which annually attracted crowds of expert shots from all over Ulster, and which had come to be regarded as the South Derry Bisley. On Monday afternoon the remains were brought by motor hearse from Belfast to his late residence in Drumlamph, and on Tuesday afternoon were removed for internment in the Castledawson Presbyterian Church burying ground, where they lovingly and reverently borne by his late comrades of the Volunteers. At 2pm Rev William Hogarth, second in command of the South Derry Regiments, paraded the men of the Castledawson and Tullinkesey companies, with some members of the Magherafelt company, in the Protestant Hall yard. Arms and equipment were served out, and with their U.V.F. armlets covered with crepe bands, the company marched to the house of mourning in Drumlamph, where a short service was conducted by the Rev Robert Caldwell, B.A., minister of Castledawson. The coffin, having being placed on a bier, was covered with a Union Jack, upon which were laid the deceased’s regalia of the Masonic and Orange Orders and his commanders armlet, cap and belt of the Ulster Volunteers. The love and respect which they bore to their dead commander was evident in their faces and the demeanour of that large company as they silently fell in to follow him for the last time. Behind the Volunteers marched the officers and members of the following lodges:- Bellaghy True Gray’s Masonic Lodge No. 332; Castledawson District LO.L. No. 1; Castledawson LO.L. No. 96; Castledawson LO.L. No. 97; Representatives of Magherafelt Masonic Lodge; Representatives of Royal Arch Chapter No. 21. Then followed the principal clergy and prominent men of the district, and an extremely large procession of the general public. For three quarters of the distance to the graveyard, the coffin was borne by the Volunteers in relays of six men, and was carried for the remainder of the distance by the members of the other institutions mentioned above. Sympathetic crowds lined the village street and all blinds were drawn and business premises closely shuttered as the sad procession passed through. At the grave side, Rev R Caldwell again conducted the service, and wreaths were placed on the grave from the following:- mother, sisters and brother, his loving wife, K C Fulton, F and S Morgan, Castledawson, L.O.L. No 96, Castledawson U.V.F. The chief mourners were:- Messrs James Fulton (brother); Robert F Fulton, Hugh Speers, R J Speers and F Morgan (uncles); Alex Heuston (brother in law); Hugh Speer, J Speers, R J Speers, Edmund Speers, Matthew Taylor and Hugh Taylor, Francis Morgan and Thomas Millar (cousins) and Hugh McMaster (relative).
From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 1st May 1915: Thanks
Mrs K Fulton, Broagh, Drumlamph, desires to thank the members of the Castledawson Ulster Volunteers, Castledawson L.O.L. No. 96, the members of the various Masonic and Orange lodges in the district, and all those persons who so kindly expressed sympathy in their sad bereavement.
From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 8th May 1915: Castledawson
A handsome wreath has been added to the many already upon the grave of the late Mr John Fulton, late Commander of the Castledawson U.V.F. The card inside bears the inscription:- ‘In loving memory, from a few of his brother Volunteers now stationed at Finner Camp.’
Commander John Fulton is buried in Castledawson Presbyterian Church churchyard.
Commander John Fulton photo hangs in the War Memorial Hall, Castledawson.
John Fulton is erroneously listed on Castledawson War Memorial.
