| Date |
Information |
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| 14/08/2017 |
Samuel Charters was born in Bellaghy on 25th January 1897. He was the youngest of seven sons. He had three sisters. |
| 14/08/2017 |
Samuel travelled with his mother to New Zealand for a visit only but got stuck in the country when war broke out. His mother died in Hastings in 1917. |
| 30/12/2015 |
Samuel Charters was working as a labourer before he enlisted he was living with some of the family at Dufferin Street, Hasting. |
| 30/12/2015 |
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| 30/12/2015 |
Samuel Charters was the son of William and Mary Jane Charters. William Charters married Mary Jane Brown on 28th August 1873 in the Magherafelt area. |
| 30/12/2015 |
Family: William Charters, Mary Jane Charters, William Charters (born 11th March 1877), James Charters (born 24th April 1879), Mary Charters (born 3rd January 1881), David Charters (born 2nd May 1883), Margaret Charters (born 4th February 1885), Robert Charters (born 28th August 1886), Thomas Charters (born 1st April 1890), Sarah Charters (born 17th January 1892), John Charters (born 2nd February 1894), Samuel Charters (born 25th January 1897). |
| 30/12/2015 |
The 1901 census lists Samuel as age 4 living with the family at house 12 in Mullaghboy, Bellaghy, County Londonderry. His mother was a farmer. It incorrectly states that his mother was a widow. |
| 30/12/2015 |
The 1911 census lists Samuel as age 14 living with the family at house 36 in Mullaghboy, Bellaghy, County Londonderry. His father and brother were both bricklayers. Samuel was still at school. His parents were recorded as being married for 38 years. |
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Sixteen year old Samuel Charters emigrated to New Zealand. He arrived in Wellington on the Ionic on 23rd January 1914. He had two elder brothers living in Hastings. |
| 30/12/2015 |
Samuel Charters enlisted in Hastings on 12th July 1917. His enlistment form records that his mother had been resident in New Zealand for three years. He gave his age as 20 years old. |
| 30/12/2015 |
After training, on 16 November 1917, Private Charters embarked from Wellington with the Canterbury Regiment of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, bound for Liverpool. |
| 30/12/2015 |
In March 1918, whilst still in England, he took ill with tonsillitis. By August, his condition had deteriorated with what seems to have been a severe lung infection and he was transferred to a London hospital. |
| 30/12/2015 |
Samuel Charters was officially discharged due to illness on 29 January 1919 and returned to New Zealand. |
| 30/12/2015 |
Samuel died of that illness at Napier Hospital, New Zealand on the eve of Christmas on 23rd December 1920. He was 23 years old. |
| 30/12/2015 |
Private Samuel Charters is buried in Hastings Cemetery in New Zealand. |
| 30/12/2015 |
The CWGC record Private Chambers as the son of Mr and Mrs William Charters of Bellaghy, Co. Derry, Ireland. |
| 30/12/2015 |
Samuel’s older brother, Private John Charters, also died in the war. He was serving with the 1st Battalion of the Otago Regiment, New Zealand Expeditionary Force when he died of gunshot wounds to his back on 15th July 1916. He was 22 years old. |
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