Dempster, Andrew John (Andrew)
Rifleman
No. 17568, ‘C’ Company, 13th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
Killed in action on Saturday 1 July 1916 (aged 24)
Buried:
Suzanne Military Cemetery No. 3, France (Grave II. D. 11)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Comber and District War Memorial
Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) Roll of Honour 1914 – 1919 for
Granshaw Presbyterian Church
Family grave headstone in Moneyreagh Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church Graveyard
BIOGRAPHY
Andrew John Dempster was born on 12 August 1891 in Moneyreagh and he was a son of Hugh and Elizabeth Dempster (nee Lappin) who were married on 4 August 1879 in Second Comber Presbyterian Church. Hugh Dempster from Moneyreagh was a son of Samuel Dempster, a farmer. Elizabeth Lappin from Tullyhubbert was a daughter of James Lappin, a farmer.
Lived in the townland of Moneyreagh
Hugh Dempster was a farmer and he and Elizabeth had at least eight children:
James (born 18 August 1880 in Moneyreagh)
Agnes (born 27 January 1883 in Moneyreagh)
Elizabeth (Lizzie, born 15 July 1885 in Moneyreagh)
Jane (born 13 September 1887 in Moneyreagh)
William (born 7 August 1889 in Moneyreagh)
Andrew John (born 12 August 1891 in Moneyreagh)
Hugh (born 2 January 1895 in Moneyreagh)
Samuel (born 23 August 1897 in Moneyreagh)
The children were all baptised in Granshaw Presbyterian Church.
Andrew Dempster’s eldest brother, James Dempster, lived at 95 Thorndyke Street, Belfast.
After leaving school, Andrew Dempster worked on his father’s farm.
Andrew Dempster enlisted in Belfast and he served with the 13th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles in 108th Brigade of the 36th (Ulster) Division. He went to France on 6 October 1915. Rifleman Andrew John Dempster was 24 when he was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme and he was buried in Suzanne Military Cemetery No. 3, France. There is an inscription on his CWGC headstone:
GREATER LOVE
HATH NO MAN THAN THIS
THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE
FOR HIS FRIENDS
Rifleman Andrew John Dempster (No. 17568) is commemorated on Comber and District War Memorial; in the PCI Roll of Honour for Granshaw Presbyterian Church and on the family grave headstone in Moneyreagh Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church Graveyard.
Andrew Dempster’s father, Hugh Dempster, died on 22 February 1929 (aged 74).