Broderick, Arthur Rickwood (Arthur)
Rifleman
No. 44742, 3rd Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
Died of disease on Monday 1 July 1918 (aged 23)
Buried:
Fulham Palace Road Cemetery, London (Grave 8 B. D. 40)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
BIOGRAPHY
The death of Rifleman Arthur Rickwood Broderick was reported in the 6 July 1918 edition of the Newtownards Chronicle under the headline Sudden Death of Rifleman A. Broderick.
The report stated that sincere regret would be felt in Newtownards on account of his death.
Arthur Rickwood Broderick was born on 5 September 1894 in Fulham, London, and he was a son of John and Louisa Broderick whose marriage was registered in the third quarter of 1892 in Woolwich, London. John Broderick worked as a house painter and he and Louisa had at least twelve children including:
John Rickwood (born September 1893 in Fulham, London; died September 1903)
Arthur Rickwood (born 5 September 1894 in Fulham, London)
Albert Rickwood (born 20 August 1896 in Fulham, London)
Bernard (born 5 June 1898 in Fulham, London)
Constance Louisa (born March 1900 in Fulham, London)
Dorothy Amy (born 1 November 1902 in Fulham, London)
Ada Winifred (born June 1905 in Fulham, London)
Wilfred John (born 1906 in Fulham, London; died 1906)
John (born 31 May 1908 in Fulham, London)
Lily Annie (born 10 July 1910 in Fulham, London)
Elizabeth Ethel (Betty, born 1912 in Fulham, London)
Their father died in 1941, and their mother died in 1950.
Immediately after leaving school Arthur Broderick worked as a telegraph messenger.
Arthur Rickwood Broderick (stated age 24; actual age 20) and Laura Jane Edwards (aged 34; born 29 July 1880) were married on 27 September 1914 in All Saints’ Church, Fulham, London. Arthur Broderick, a postman, was a son of John Broderick, a decorator. Laura Edwards was a daughter of Thomas Edwards, a clerk.
At the time of Arthur’s death, his wife Laura Jane was living at 33 Adela Avenue, West Barnes Lane, New Malden, Surrey.
For some time before his death, Rifleman Arthur Broderick had been a patient in the Military Hospital Newtownards and while he was there, he became well-known in Newtownards and District as the leading organiser of a series of military concerts in the Guild Hall.
When he was discharged from hospital in Newtownards, he was sent to Belfast to await orders about re-joining his unit.
In Belfast he fell victim to the influenza epidemic and was admitted to the Military Hospital in Victoria Barracks, Clifton Street, Belfast where he developed double-pneumonia (both lungs) and died on 1 July 1918.
The Matron, staff and patients of the Military Hospital in Newtownards placed a For King and Country notice in the 6 July 1918 edition of the Newtownards Chronicle.
Arthur Broderick’s brother Albert also served during the Great War.