Fraser, Richard Alexander Byers (Richard)
Lance Corporal
No. 16494, ‘A’ Company, 13th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
Killed in action on Saturday 1 July 1916 (aged 22)
No known grave
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Thiepval Memorial, France (Pier and Face 15 A and 15 B)
Holywood and District War Memorial (as Frazer)
Holywood Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Philip & St James)
Journey of Remembering Belfast Book of Honour
BIOGRAPHY
In some records his surname is spelt Frazer.
Richard Alexander Byers Fraser was born in Belfast and he was a son of William Richard Alexander Fraser (born in Middlesex, England) and Edith Fraser (nee Flanagan, sometimes Flanigan) who were married on 3 November 1881 in St Macartin’s Church of Ireland Church Enniskillen. William Richard Alexander Fraser, a full-age bachelor and a Private in the Army Hospital Corps was stationed in the Military Hospital, Enniskillen and he was a son of William Richard Alexander Fraser, a sea captain. Edith Flanagan, a spinster and a minor, from Wellington Place, Enniskillen was a daughter of William Flanagan, a mason.
The Fraser family lived in Wellington Place, Enniskillen; at 32 Moore Street, Belfast; at 29 Georges Street, Belfast; at 49 and 55 Shamrock Street, Belfast; at 117 Woodstock Road, Belfast and at 12 Trevor Street, Holywood.
William Fraser worked as a painter and decorator and he and Edith had at least fifteen children including:
William Francis (born 16 May 1886 in Wellington Place, Enniskillen)
Mary Ann Isabella Jane (born 18 September 1889 at 32 Moore Street, Belfast)
David Charles (born 22 March 1892 at 29 Georges Street, Belfast)
Richard Alexander Byers (born 19 April 1894 at 49 Shamrock Street, Belfast)
Edith Jane (born 28 May 1896 at 55 Shamrock Street, Belfast)
Albert (born 2 August 1897 at 55 Shamrock Street, Belfast)
Florence Beatrice (born 15 June 1900 at 117 Woodstock Road, Belfast)
Their mother, Edith Fraser (nee Flanagan) died of tuberculosis on 28 October 1908 at 12 Trevor Street, Holywood.
Richard Alexander Byers Fraser worked as a tobacco stripper and he lived in Stanhope Street, Belfast and later in Holywood.
Richard Alexander Byers Fraser enlisted in Belfast and served with the 13th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles in 108th Brigade of the 36th (Ulster) Division.
Lance Corporal Richard Alexander Byers Fraser was 22 when he was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme and he has no known grave.
Lance Corporal Richard Fraser is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial in France; on Holywood and District War Memorial (as Frazer); on the Memorial Plaque in Holywood Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Philip & St James) and in the Belfast Book of Honour (Page 200).