Elliott, Joshua (Joss)
Lance Corporal
No. 17602, ‘A’ Company, 13th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
Killed in action on Saturday 4 August 1917 (aged 30)
Buried:
Potijze Chateau Wood Cemetery, Belgium (Grave G. 5)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Holywood and District War Memorial
Holywood Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Philip & St James)
Brother of Sergeant Francis James Elliott Croix de Guerre (No. 3/8725)
Brother of Private William Robert Elliott (No. 8252)
BIOGRAPHY
Joshua Elliott was born on 29 March 1887 in the townland of Ballygrainey and he was the second son of Joshua and Mary Elliott (nee McConnell) who were married on 3 December 1880 in Derriaghy Church of Ireland Church Lisburn.
The Elliott family lived in Craigavad, Ballygrainey and at 12 Sullivan Street, Holywood.
Joshua Elliott Senior worked as a labourer and railway ganger and he and Mary had at least ten children including:
William Robert (born 12 September 1881 at Craigavad)
Ann Jane (born 10 April 1883 at Craigavad)
Elizabeth Mary (Minnie, born 23 January 1885 at Craigavad)
Joshua (born 29 March 1887 at Ballygrainey)
Francis James (Frank, born 14 April 1889 at Ballygrainey)
Sarah (Sadie, born 20 June 1891 at Ballygrainey)
Alice (born 26 April 1894 at Ballygrainey)
John (born 10 July 1897 at Ballygrainey)
William Robert was the first of the three Elliott brothers to die, then Joshua and then Francis. At the unveiling of Holywood and District War Memorial on 28 January 1922 their mother, Mary Elliott, laid a wreath on behalf of the residents of Holywood.
Joshua Elliott was baptised in Glencraig Parish Church of Ireland Church and prior to the outbreak of the Great War he worked as a labourer.
Joshua Elliott enlisted in Holywood and served with the 13th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles in 108th Brigade of the 36th (Ulster) Division. He went to France on 6 October 1915 and survived both the Battle of the Somme and the Battle of Messines. In the War Diary, it is recorded that Lance Corporal Joss Elliott was killed by shell-fire during heavy enemy bombardment on 4 August 1917 (aged 30).
Lance Corporal Joshua Elliott was buried in Potijze Chateau Wood Cemetery, Belgium and he is commemorated on Holywood and District War Memorial and on the Memorial Plaque in Holywood Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Philip & St James).