Cathcart, John
Rifleman
No. 19429, ‘B’ Company, 13th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
Killed in action on Saturday 1 July 1916 (aged 23)
No known grave
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Thiepval Memorial, France (Pier and Face 15 A and 15 B)
Comber and District War Memorial
BIOGRAPHY
In the Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914 – 1919 database it is recorded that John Cathcart was born in Portaferry, lived in Comber and enlisted in Belfast.
Rifleman John Cathcart (No. 19429) served with the 13th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles in 108th Brigade of the 36th (Ulster) Division and he was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
It the Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects it is noted that his war gratuity was paid to his aunt, Mrs Letitia Butts.
In the 1911 census it is recorded that John Cathcart (aged 18) was working as an agricultural labourer and living in the townland of Ballystockart, Ballymaglaff, Comber with his uncle and aunt, Robert John and Letitia Butts (nee Cathcart).
Robert John Butts and Letitia Cathcart were married on 5 May 1899 in Regent Street Methodist Church Newtownards. Robert John Butts from Ballystockart was a son of William Butts, a labourer. Letitia Cathcart from Ballystockart was a daughter of James Cathcart, a labourer. Robert John and Letitia Butts (nee Cathcart) had no children.
In the 1901 census it is recorded that John Cathcart (aged 8) was living in Cloughey with his unmarried aunt Eliza Jane Cathcart (aged 30, a seamstress) and her son David Cathcart (aged 9, born 14 February 1892).
On John Cathcart’s birth certificate, it is recorded that John was born in Cloughey on 19 October 1892 and he was a son of Letitia Cathcart who was unmarried.
Rifleman John Cathcart (No. 19429) was 23 when he was killed in action on 1 July 1916 and he has no known grave.
Rifleman John Cathcart (No. 19429) is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial in France and on Comber and District War Memorial.