Irving, Thomas J.
Private
No. 21568, 2nd Battalion, Border Regiment
Killed in action on Saturday 1 July 1916 (aged 47)
No known grave
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Thiepval Memorial, France (Pier and Face 6 A and 7 C)
Family grave headstone in Bangor Cemetery, Newtownards Road, Bangor
BIOGRAPHY
Thomas J. Irving was born around 1868/1869 and he was a son of James P. Irving and Isabella Irving (nee Lister) whose marriage was registered in the third quarter of 1869 in Cockermouth, Cumberland.
In 1891 the Irving family was living in Workington, Cumberland: James Irving, a joiner; his wife Isabella; his son Thomas, an iron moulder (aged 23) and his son Lester, a joiner’s apprentice (aged 16).
James P. Irving, a widower and a joiner, died of heart failure in Bingham Street, Bangor on 23 April 1907 (aged 70) and was buried in Bangor Cemetery, Newtownards Road, Bangor. His son, Lester Irving, was with him when he died.
In 1911 Lester and Annie Irving (nee Barbour) were living in Bingham Street, Bangor. Lester Irving was a master carpenter and he and Annie had no children. Lester and Annie were married on 8 September 1898 in Ballygilbert Presbyterian Church. Lester Irving, a carpenter from Workington, was a son of James Irving, a joiner. Annie Barbour from Bangor was a daughter of William Barbour, a labourer. Annie Irvine died on 8 March 1924 and was buried in Bangor Cemetery.
In the Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914 – 1919 database it is recorded that Thomas J. Irving was born in Asby, Whitehaven, lived in Bangor and enlisted in Maryport.
Private Thomas J. Irving went to France on 22 March 1916 and was killed in action a little over three months later, on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Private Thomas J. Irving has no known grave and he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial in France and on the Irving family grave headstone in Bangor Cemetery, Newtownards Road, Bangor.