Dempster, David J.

Second Private

No. 308611, Royal Air Force

Died as a result of an accident on Tuesday 11 February 1919 (aged 19)

Buried:

Comber New Cemetery, Co. Down (Grave 5. 305)

Commemorated:

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

BIOGRAPHY

On Second Private David J. Dempster’s Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) headstone in Comber New Cemetery, Co. Down his service number is inscribed as 30861.

In Royal Air Force (RAF) records he has only one forename – David; there is no second initial ‘J’.  His next-of-kin was his sister, J. Dempster, who lived at 4 Sherwood Street, Belfast and the cause of his death is on record as ‘suffocation caused by carbon monoxide fumes from a boiler’.

David Dempster was born on 21 March 1899 at 6 Glentoran Street, Belfast and he was a son of John and Agnes Dempster (nee Millar, sometimes Miller) who were married on 25 November 1889 in Newtownards Registrar’s Office.  John Dempster from Ballycreely, Comber was a son of John Dempster, a labourer.  Agnes Millar from McConnell’s Row, Comber was a daughter of Archibald Millar, a postman.

The Dempster family lived in Belfast in Empress Street, Glentoran Street and Sherwood Street.

John Dempster worked as a labourer and he and Agnes had seven children including:

Alexander (Alex, born 28 September 1890 at 6 Empress Street, Belfast)

Thomas John (born 19 December 1891 at 6 Glentoran Street, Belfast)

Jane (born 7 April 1897 at 6 Glentoran Street, Belfast)

David (born 21 March 1899 at 6 Glentoran Street, Belfast; no other forename is recorded in his civil birth registration)

Archibald (born 2 October 1902 at 6 Glentoran Street, Belfast)

Two other children died in infancy.

Their mother, Agnes Dempster, died of nephritis on 21 March 1903 (aged 37).  She died on David’s fourth birthday.

Their father, John Dempster, died of bronchitis on 25 December 1914 (aged 50).  He died at 4 Sherwood Street, Belfast and his son Alex was with him when he died.

During the Great War, Second Private David J. Dempster (No. 308611) served in the Royal Air Force and he was 19 when he died as a result of an accident on 11 February 1919 in Fife Military Hospital, Scotland.

Second Private David J. Dempster (No. 308611) was buried in Comber New Cemetery.