Adair, Edward
Private
No. 27059, 10th Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
Killed in action on Saturday 1 July 1916 (aged 20)
No known grave
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Thiepval Memorial, France (Pier and Face 4 D and 5 B)
Newtownards and District War Memorial
First Newtownards Presbyterian Church
Brother of James Adair (Royal Garrison Artillery)
BIOGRAPHY
Edward Adair was born on 30 July 1895 in Darragh’s Lane, Newtownards and he was the younger son of Robert and Margaret (Maggie) Adair (nee Mullen) who were married on 11 November 1890 in Ballyblack Presbyterian Church. Robert Adair from Greengraves was a son of James Adair, a labourer. Maggie Mullen from Ballywitticock worked as a servant and she was a daughter of Hugh Mullen, a labourer.
The Adair family lived at 12 Robert Street, Newtownards.
Before that the Adair family lived in the townlands of Corporation South (1901) and Ballyharry (1911), both Newtownards.
Robert Adair was an agricultural labourer and he and Maggie had five children all of whom were baptised in First Newtownards Presbyterian Church:
Catherine (Kathleen, born 3 October 1891 at Ballyskeagh, Newtownards)
James (born 26 November 1892 at Ballyrogan, Newtownards)
Edward (born 30 July 1895 in Darragh’s Lane, Newtownards)
Alice (born 9 April 1898 in Darragh’s Lane, Newtownards)
Annie Jane Bleakley (Annie, born 16 November 1903 in Ballylinney, Newtownards)
After leaving school Edward Adair worked as an agricultural labourer.
Edward Adair enlisted in November 1914 and he served with the 10th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in Enniskillen before being posted to France in October 1915. He served with 109th Brigade in the 36th (Ulster) Division.
Private Edward Adair was 20 when he was posted as missing in action on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, and one year later, in July 1917, it was officially confirmed that he must be presumed to have been ‘killed in action on that date or since’.
The Adair family placed a For King and Country notice in the 21 July 1917 edition of the Newtownards Chronicle.
During the Great War Edward’s elder brother James served as a Gunner in the Royal Artillery and they also had a brother-in-law on active service.
Private Edward Adair has no known grave and he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial in France; on Newtownards and District War Memorial and in First Newtownards Presbyterian Church.