Ferguson, David Harvey (David)
Rifleman
No. 20133, 3rd Battalion, 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade, NZEF
Killed in action on Thursday 6 December 1917 (aged 21)
Buried:
Polygon Wood Cemetery, Belgium (Grave G. 14)
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
David Harvey Ferguson was born on 7 March 1896 in Castle Square, Bangor and he was a son of John and Elizabeth (Lizzie) Ferguson (nee McCombe, sometimes McComb) who were married on 3 October 1895 in Holywood Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Philip & St James). John Ferguson (aged 22) from Princetown Cottage, Bangor was a son of John Ferguson, a master mariner. Elizabeth McCombe (aged 22) from Spencer Street, Holywood was a daughter of John McCombe, a carter.
The Ferguson family lived in Castle Square, Bangor; in Queen’s Parade, Bangor and at 48 Princetown Road, Bangor.
John Ferguson worked as a carpenter and he and Elizabeth had at least five children:
David Harvey (born 7 March 1896 in Castle Square, Bangor)
Isabella Harvey (born 4 November 1897 in Holburn Street, Bangor)
Florence Elizabeth (born 22 November 1901 in Princetown Cottage, Bangor)
Marguerite (born 25 March 1905 in Princetown Cottage, Bangor)
Norah Millar (born 28 May 1908 in Princetown Cottage, Bangor)
David Harvey Ferguson was a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force before he moved to New Zealand. There he lived at 40 Coromandel Street, Wellington and worked as a grocer’s assistant for the Bolton Company, Oriental Bay.
David Harvey Ferguson enlisted on 1 May 1916 and it was noted in his attestation papers that he was 5 feet 6¾ inches tall with a fair complexion, blue eyes and light brown hair. He served with the 3rd Battalion 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade and left Wellington for England on 19 August 1916. He marched into Sling Camp, Salisbury Plain on 25 October 1916 and left there for France on 15 November 1916. He marched into Camp at Etaples on 16 November 1916 and went to the Front on 7 December 1916. He had a period of leave from 21 October 1917 until 10 November 1917 when he re-joined his Battalion.
Rifleman David Harvey Ferguson was 21 when he was killed in action at Gheluvelt, Ypres on 6 December 1917 and he was buried in Polygon Wood Cemetery, Belgium.
Rifleman David Harvey Ferguson 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 41) and in Bangor Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Comgall’s).