Friends of the Somme - Mid Ulster Branch  
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Date Name Information
23/08/2018 R/man James Kelly Private James Kelly has been wounded and is at present an inmate in Netley Hospital. He volunteered for active service sometime after the outbreak of hostilities, and he was drafted into the Royal Irish Rifles. Private Kelly is the famous person of Covenant fame who, it will be remembered, had two of our local Justices of the Peace summoned for signing the Covenant, but the prosecution collapsed. He expects to get home for a few days before returning to the front. He stated, in a letter to his mother, he is wounded in the neck.
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23/08/2018 R/man James Kelly From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 29th May 1915: Maghera (to be confirmed)
15/08/2018 Pte. Robert Douglas Marshall M.M. For a minister to have every one of his six children fighting for his country, or training for that purpose, is surely a remarkable record. The minister in question is the Rev George Marshall, the Baptist minister of Cotton End, Bedford, and formerly of Tobermore, who is justly proud of his six soldier sons, all of whom are decided Christians and total abstainers. The two eldest sons are twins, and one of them, George Stanley Marshall, is a sapper in the Royal Engineers, and has been under German fire at the front whilst repairing trenches. The other twin is Private Joseph C Marshall, who is in the Royal Army Medical Corps, serving at the 3rd London General Hospital at Wandsworth Common. The third son, who has just reached manhood, is Private Cyril P M Marshall, in training with the Bedfordshire Yeomanry. The forth is Lance Corporal R D Marshall, of the Royal Engineers, and the fifth son, Private H C Marshall, is in the 5th Bedfordshire Yeomanry. The youngest son is only a school boy of fifteen, but young though he is, he is not to be denied following in the footsteps of his patriotic and loyal brothers, hence he is training in the Junior Officers’ Training Corps belonging to his school in Taunton. We congratulate Mr and Mrs Marshall on the fine contribution they have made to the brave men who are fighting our cause in this terrible war, and pray that God may bless and protect their dear ones through the perils and dangers of the campaign. On the front cover ‘The Sunday Circle’ of 24th April (from which paper the above was taken), there are illustrations of Rev George Marshall, Mrs Marshall and their six sons.
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15/08/2018 Pte. Robert Douglas Marshall M.M. From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 15th May 1915:
15/08/2018 Civilian John Fulton 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.’
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15/08/2018 Civilian John Fulton From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 8th May 1915: Castledawson
10/08/2018 Civilian John Fulton 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.
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10/08/2018 Civilian John Fulton From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 1st May 1915: Thanks
10/08/2018 Civilian John Fulton 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.
09/08/2018 Lieut Thomas Boston Mr Thomas Bolton, who has received a commission in the 12th Inniskillings, is the eldest son of Mr John Boston, The Mount, Pottinger, Belfast, and is only 22 years of age. Lieutenant Boston was educated at the Royal Academical Institution, Belfast. when the Unionist Clubs were revived at the commencement of the last anti-Home Rule campaign, he became a member of the Willowfield club. On his coming to reside in Upperlands, he joined the local club, and when the Ulster Volunteer Force was instituted, he was enrolled a private in the Upperlands Company. He soon rose in the ranks, being appointed half-company commander and afterwards company commander, while for a considerable time past he held the important office of adjutant of the 2nd Battalion South Derry U.V.F. Regiment. Lieutenant Boston did not spare himself in his efforts to make the force a success in this district. He did not confine his labourers to the local company but rendered valuable assistance to the neighbouring companies, having for upwards of a year acted as instructor of Tamlaght O’Crilly Company, and on several occasions took charge of the Kilrea and Lislea companies, at all times working with a single eye for the welfare of the Force in in South Derry. Lieutenant Boston was also a respected member of the Loyal Orange Institution, being connected with Tiraconavey L.O.L. No. 229, of which he has held the office of chaplain for upwards of two years. Since the inauguration by the Rev V M Corkey of a company of the Boys Brigade in the neighbourhood, he has given every assistance in his power to make it a success. His removal from the locality will be a great loss to the Ulster Volunteer Force, and it will be no easy task to find a substitute to take his place. His many friends in the district wish him every success in his new sphere of life. On Monday a large crowd assembled at the railway station when he was given a very enthusiastic send off.
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09/08/2018 Lieut Thomas Boston From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 24th April 1915: Upperlands
08/08/2018 Civilian John Fulton John Fulton is erroneously listed on Castledawson War Memorial.
08/08/2018 Civilian John Fulton Commander John Fulton photo hangs in the War Memorial Hall, Castledawson.
08/08/2018 Civilian John Fulton Commander John Fulton is buried in Castledawson Presbyterian Church churchyard.
08/08/2018 Civilian John Fulton 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.
08/08/2018 Civilian John Fulton Commander John Fulton died of pneumonia in Belfast on Sunday 11th April 1915.
08/08/2018 Civilian John Fulton 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.
08/08/2018 Civilian John Fulton He was described in the local newspaper as ‘the most popular young man in the district’.
08/08/2018 Civilian John Fulton 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’.
08/08/2018 Civilian John Fulton 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.
08/08/2018 Civilian John Fulton The 1911 census list John as age 26, living with the family at house 34 in Drumlamph, Bellaghy.
08/08/2018 Civilian John Fulton 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.
08/08/2018 Civilian John Fulton John’s father, James Fulton, died on 10th March 1899 in the Bellaghy area. He was 47 years old.
08/08/2018 Civilian John Fulton 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).
08/08/2018 Civilian John Fulton John Fulton was born in Bellaghy on 22nd March 1885. He was one of eight children.
08/08/2018 Civilian John Fulton 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.
08/08/2018 Civilian John Fulton 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.
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08/08/2018 Civilian John Fulton 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).
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08/08/2018 Civilian John Fulton From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 17th April 1915: Ulster Volunteer Funeral at Castledawson
06/08/2018 Lieut Thomas Boston A special meeting of Tivaconavey L.O.L. No. 229 was held in the Orange Hall on Thursday evening, 25th March. In the absence of W.M. (Bro W S Canning), Bro John H Tomb was moved to the chair. One new member was initiated, and one candidate was proposed and accepted for initiation at the next meeting. It was unanimously decided to get a new flag for the coming 12th. On the motion of Bro Samuel Arbuthnot, a vote of thanks was passed to Bro Thomas Boston (who is about to take up a commission in the Ulster Division of Lord Kitchener’s army) for the capable manner in which he has performed his duties as chaplain for the past two years.
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06/08/2018 Lieut Thomas Boston From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 3rd April 1915: Upperlands
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