Doggart, William John (Willie)
Rifleman
No. 18/329, 12th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
Killed in action on Thursday 22 November 1917 (aged 19)
No known grave
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Cambrai Memorial, France (Panel 10)
Holywood and District War Memorial
Holywood Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Philip & St James)
Journey of Remembering Belfast Book of Honour
Brother of Lance Corporal Hugh Ross Doggart MM (No. 3914)
Brother of Rifleman James Doggart (No. 17575)
BIOGRAPHY
In 1901 widower William Roseman aged 76 (in some records his surname is spelt Rosemond) was living at 34 Church View, Holywood with his 34-year-old widowed daughter Mary Doggart and her three surviving sons James, Hugh and William.
Mary Roseman was born on 18 December 1864 and she was a daughter of William and Dinah Roseman (nee Ross) who were married on 2 August 1851 in Holywood Presbyterian Church.
Mary Roseman and Horatio Doggart were married on 11 July 1890 in Holywood Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Philip and St James). Horatio Doggart was born on 17 March 1868 in Newtownards and he was a son of John McDonald Doggart and Margaret Doggart (nee Hanlon, sometimes Hanlin) and a grandson of Adam Doggart and Elizabeth Doggart (nee McDonald).
Their firstborn son, William John Doggart, was born on 21 August 1891 at 13 Claremont Lane, Belfast (he died of typhoid fever on 2 August 1897 in Church View, Holywood).
Mary Doggart’s mother, Dinah Roseman, died of bronchitis on 23 March 1895 (aged 61) and she was buried in Old Priory Cemetery, Holywood (Grave 132). Her son William was in attendance.
William John Doggart was about three weeks short of his sixth birthday when he died on 2 August 1897 and he too was buried in Old Priory Cemetery, Holywood (Grave 132).
After William John, Horatio and Mary Doggart had four more children, all boys:
James (born 29 November 1892 at 13 Claremont Lane, Belfast)
Hugh Ross (born 4 December 1894 at 13 Claremont Lane, Belfast)
William John (born 10 November 1898 in Church View, Holywood and named after his brother William John who had died the previous year)
Albert Edward (born 1 December 1899 in Church View, Holywood)
Albert Edward Doggart was just nine months old when he died of gastro-enteritis on 15 September 1900 and he too was buried in Old Priory Cemetery, Holywood (Grave 132).
Some nine weeks later Mary was widowed when her husband Horatio died of pneumonia on 1 November 1900 (aged 32). He was buried in Old Priory Cemetery, Holywood (Grave 711). Horatio Doggart had been suffering from typhoid fever for some six weeks and died in Belfast Workhouse. His sister-in-law, Dinah Magee, was in attendance.
After her husband Horatio died Mary Doggart worked as a charwoman and on 26 September 1901 her father, William Roseman, died (aged 77). He was buried in Old Priory Cemetery, Holywood (Grave 122) because in 1900 Grave 132 was closed.
By 1911 two of Mary’s three surviving sons were in employment. James Doggart (aged 18) was a farm servant and Hugh Doggart (aged 16) was a message boy. Willie Doggart (aged 12) was still at school.
Mary Doggart died of pneumonia on 26 January 1913 (aged 48: and her sister, Dinah Magee, was in attendance. Mary was buried with Horatio in Old Priory Cemetery, Holywood (Grave 711).
All three of Mary’s surviving sons were killed in action during the First World War. James was the first of the three brothers to die, then Hugh and then William. Their home address during the war was 24 Frome Street, Belfast.
William John (Willie) Doggart was born on 10 November 1898 in Church View, Holywood, he enlisted in Holywood, he served with the 12th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles in 108th Brigade of the 36th (Ulster) Division and he was 19 when he was killed in action on 22 November 1917 during the Battle of Cambrai.
Rifleman William John Doggart has no known grave and he is commemorated on the Cambrai Memorial. He was due a payment of £4-6-5 from the Army and this, along with his war gratuity of £8-10-0, was paid to his aunt, Dinah Magee.
Rifleman William John Doggart is also commemorated on Holywood and District War Memorial; on the Memorial Plaque in Holywood Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Philip & St James) and in the Belfast Book of Honour (Page 156).
Rifleman William John Doggart’s uncle, Ross Roseman (his mother Mary’s brother), and his cousin, William Roseman (Ross’s son), also died during the First World War.