Ballance, Thomas John (Thomas)
Lance Corporal
No. 18870, ‘D’ Company, 13th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
Killed in action on Saturday 1 July 1916 (aged 21)
No known grave
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Thiepval Memorial, France (Pier and Face 15 A and 15 B)
BIOGRAPHY
In the Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914 – 1919 database it is recorded that Lance Corporal Thomas John Ballance lived in Kircubbin, Co Down.
Thomas John Ballance was born on 6 June 1895 in Kilkeel, Co Down and he was a son of William and Susanna Ballance (nee Haugh) who were married on 28 June 1892 in Mourne Presbyterian Church, Kilkeel. William Balance from Kilkeel was a son of George Balance, a fisherman. Susanna Haugh (aged 19) from Kilkeel was a daughter of George Haugh, a labourer.
The Balance family lived at 13 Stanley Terrace, Harbour Road, Kilkeel.
William Ballance was a fisherman and he and Susanna had at least seven children:
George (born 28 May 1893 in Kilkeel)
Thomas John (born 6 June 1895 in Kilkeel)
William Henry (born 17 August 1897 in Kilkeel)
Francis (born 12 March 1905 in Kilkeel; died 27 September 1906)
Letitia Jane (born 1 September 1907 in Kilkeel)
Annie Margaret (born 13 December 1908 in Kilkeel)
Dinah (born 26 May 1912 in Kilkeel)
Thomas John Ballance worked as an agricultural labourer and he enlisted in Newry.
He served with the 13th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles in 108th Brigade of the 36th (Ulster) Division and went to France in October 1915.
Lance Corporal Thomas John Ballance (No. 18870) was 21 when he was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Lance Corporal Thomas John Ballance (No. 18870) has no known grave and he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial in France.