Gunning, George Coulter
Rifleman
No. 6897, 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
Died of wounds on Sunday 27 September 1914 (aged 28)
Buried:
Terlincthun British Cemetery, Wimille, France (X. A. B. 12)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Ballywalter and District War Memorial
Ballywalter Parish Church of Ireland Church (Holy Trinity)
BIOGRAPHY
George Coulter Gunning was born on 23 February 1886 in Kircubbin and he was a son of James and Elizabeth Gunning (nee Davidson) who were married on 7 June 1883 in Innishargie Parish Church of Ireland Church, Balligan (St Andrew’s). James Gunning from Kircubbin worked as a tailor and he was a son of James Gunning, a car owner. Elizabeth Davidson from Kircubbin worked as a servant and she was a daughter of James Davidson, a labourer.
The Gunning family lived in Kircubbin and then in Greenwell Street, Newtownards.
James and Elizabeth Gunning (nee Davidson) had at least four children:
George Coulter (born 23 February 1886 in Kircubbin)
Mary Ellen (born 13 May 1888 in Kircubbin; died 20 February 1889)
James (born 11 January 1890 in Greenwell Street, Newtownards; died 21 February 1892)
Ellen (born 24 April 1891 in Greenwell Street, Newtownards; died two days later on 26 April 1891 as a result of debility from birth)
Elizabeth Gunning suffered from consumption and she died on 21 May 1891, 27 days after Ellen was born.
George Coulter Gunning was five when his mother died.
On 1 October 1891 James Gunning and Agnes Ferguson Patterson were married in Second Newtownards Presbyterian Church. Agnes Ferguson Patterson from Belfast (she was born in Scotland) was a daughter of George Patterson, a roper.
The Gunning family lived in Regent Street, Newtownards and James Gunning took on an agency for an assurance society. Later they lived in East Bread Street, Belfast.
James and Agnes Gunning (nee Patterson) had at least six children:
Frances Millicent (born 8 March 1893 in Regent Street, Newtownards)
James Patterson (born 1 November 1894 in Regent Street, Newtownards)
Adelaide Holterman (born 7 March 1896 in Regent Street, Newtownards)
Albert Victor (born 21 June 1897 in Regent Street, Newtownards)
Norman McDonald (born 6 March 1899 in Regent Street, Newtownards)
Frederick Charles (born 19 September 1900 in Regent Street, Newtownards)
After he left school George Coulter Gunning worked in Walker’s Mill, Newtownards and on 2 April 1902 he joined the Army. He served as a boy (aged 16) with the 3rd Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (No. 4483). When he joined up, it was noted that he was 4 feet 9 inches tall with grey eyes and brown hair.
George Coulter Gunning joined the Regular Army on 18 November 1902 and he served as a musician with the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (No. 6897).
George Coulter Gunning and Elizabeth Brian were married on 17 January 1913 in Ballywalter Parish Church of Ireland Church (Holy Trinity). George Coulter Gunning (aged 26) was a Bandsman in the Royal Irish Rifles and he was a son of James Gunning, a tailor. Elizabeth Brian from Springvale, Ballywalter was a daughter of John Brian, an agricultural labourer.
George Coulter Gunning and Elizabeth Gunning (nee Brian) had one child, a daughter named Georgina Elizabeth who was born at Springvale, Ballywalter on 1 November 1914 – some five weeks after her father died of wounds in France on 27 September 1914. Georgina Elizabeth Gunning was baptised in Ballywalter Parish Church of Ireland Church.
Rifleman/Bandsman George Coulter Gunning (No. 6897) was already in service before the outbreak of the Great War and he was posted to France with the British Expeditionary Force on 14 August 1914. He was 28 when he died of wounds and tetanus at No. 5 General Hospital, Angers on 27 September 1914 and he was buried in Terlincthun British Cemetery, Wimille, France. There is an inscription on his CWGC headstone:
THE LORD IS THY KEEPER
Rifleman/Bandsman George Coulter Gunning (No. 6897) had made his will on 9 August 1914 and in it he left everything to his wife Elizabeth who was living in the townland of Springvale, Ballywalter.
Rifleman/Bandsman George Coulter Gunning (No. 6897) is commemorated on Ballywalter and District War Memorial and in Ballywalter Parish Church of Ireland Church (Holy Trinity).