Davidson, Edward (Teddy)
Lance Corporal
No. 19/843, 12th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
Died of wounds on Sunday 14 April 1918 (aged 19)
Buried:
Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Belgium (Grave XXVI. F. 9)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Bangor and District War Memorial
Royal British Legion (Bangor Branch) Memorial Plaque
Comrades of the Great War (Bangor Branch) Album in North Down Museum
Bangor Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Comgall’s)
BIOGRAPHY
Edward Davidson was brought up in a Coastguard family and records vary on some points of detail.
In the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) Debt of Honour Website it is recorded that Edward Davidson was a son of Edward and Mrs M.A. Davidson of Helford Passage, Falmouth, Cornwall and that he was a native of Bangor, Co Down.
Edward Davidson and Matilda Annie Dear were married on 16 October 1893 in St Luke’s Church of England Church, Portsmouth, Hampshire. Edward Davidson (aged 23), a Royal Navy sailor, was a son of John Davidson, an exciseman (deceased). Matilda Annie Dear (aged 21) was a daughter of George Dear, a merchant seaman (deceased).
In the Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914 – 1919 database it is recorded that Edward Davidson was born in Annalong, lived in Bangor and enlisted in Belfast.
In the 1901 census Edward Davidson aged two years is recorded as being the son of Edward and Matilda Davidson, all three having been born in England. Edward Davidson Senior worked as a Coast Guard Officer and the address given was Moneydorragh More, Annalong.
In the 1911 census Edward Davidson aged twelve years is recorded as being the nephew of Edward and Matilda Annie Davidson, all three having been born in England. Edward Davidson Senior worked as a Coast Guard Officer and the address given was Kilmichael, Kilgorman, Wexford.
In the Comrades of the Great War (Bangor Branch) Album in North Down Museum Edward Davidson’s address is given as HM Coastguard Station, Bangor.
During the Great War Edward Davidson Senior served as a Royal Navy Petty Officer (No. 135915).
During the Great War Lance Corporal Edward Davidson (No. 19/843) served with the 12th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles in 108th Brigade of the 36th (Ulster) Division and he was 19 when he died on 14 April 1918 as the result of the wounds he had sustained on 1 April 1918 at Ypres. He was buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Belgium and there is a personal inscription on his CWGC headstone:
HE RAISED HIM
FROM THE DEAD
AND SET HIM
AT HIS OWN RIGHT HAND
In Pension Records, Mrs Annie Davidson of HM Coast Guard Station, Bangor, is described as Edward Davidson’s foster mother.
Lance Corporal Edward Davidson (No. 19/843) is commemorated on Bangor and District War Memorial; on the Royal British Legion (Bangor Branch) Memorial Plaque; in the Comrades of the Great War (Bangor Branch) Album in North Down Museum (Page 40) and on the Memorial Plaque in Bangor Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Comgall’s).