Bowden, John
Lance Corporal
No. 18880, 12th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
Died of disease on Thursday 1 April 1915 (aged 19)
Buried:
Ballymena New Cemetery (Grave B2. 10)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
BIOGRAPHY
In some records his surname is spelt Boden).
John Bowden was born on 22 February 1896 at Slatt, Kells, Ballymena, and he was a son of David and Margaret (Maggie) Bowden (nee Aiken) who were married on 12 June 1886 First Kirkinriola Presbyterian Church, Ballymena. No parental details were recorded for either spouse. David Bowden worked as a railway labourer and he and Maggie had five children:
William (born 22 June 1887 at Slatt; worked as a baker)
David (born 6 February 1890 at Slatt; worked as an engine cleaner)
Robert (born 28 March 1893 at Slatt)
John (born 22 February 1896 at Slatt; worked as a solicitor’s clerk
Jane Young (born 13 May 1899 at Slatt)
The Bowden family lived at Slaght (Slatt), Kells, Co Antrim)
During the Great War John Bowden served with the 12th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles, and he was stationed at Newtownards Camp when he had to be admitted to the Fever Hospital in Newtownards. He was 19 when he died there of scarlatina (scarlet fever) and oedema of the glottis on 1 April 1915.
Lance Corporal John Bowden (No. 18880) had a military funeral in Ballymena and was buried in Ballymena New Cemetery (Grave B2. 10). There is a personal inscription on his headstone:
UNTIL THE DAY BREAKS
AND THE SHADOWS
FLEE AWAY