Legg, Charles
Second Lieutenant
203rd Field Company, Corps of Royal Engineers
Died of injuries on Sunday 15 September 1918 (aged 25)
Buried:
Arneke British Cemetery, France (Grave VII. A. 17)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Royal Belfast Academical Institution (RBAI)
Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) War Memorial
Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) Book of Remembrance
BIOGRAPHY
Charles Legg was born on 26 May 1893 in Rhanbuoy Park, Carrickfergus and he was a son of Charles McFerran Legg and Emma Legg (nee McKinney) who were married on 20 November 1884 in Wellington Place Evangelical Union Presbyterian Church Belfast (opened 1858; closed 1895). Charles McFerran Legg from Carrickfergus was a son of John Legg, a coal merchant. Emma McKinney from Holywood was a daughter of Nathan John McKinney, a merchant.
The Legg family lived in Irish Quarter, Carrickfergus, Co Antrim.
Charles Legg Senior was a coal merchant and ship owner and he and Emma had six children:
Hugh Gordon (born 13 June 1887 in Minorca, Carrickfergus)
Edith Elizabeth (born 3 February 1889 in Minorca, Carrickfergus)
Emma (born 9 February 1891 in Rhanbuoy Park, Carrickfergus)
Charles (born 26 May 1893 in Rhanbuoy Park, Carrickfergus)
Annie McKinney (born 30 July 1895)
Frances H (born 18 December 1897 in Bayview, Carrickfergus)
Charles Legg Junior was educated at Royal Belfast Academical Institution (RBAI) and he graduated from Queen’s University Belfast with a BSc degree in 1914. He was also a member of the Officers’ Training Corps at Queen’s University.
During university vacations Charles Legg worked for Holywood District Council as an assistant engineer.
Charles Legg enlisted in June 1915 and was commissioned to the Royal Engineers in January 1917. He died in a riding accident on 15 September 1918 – his horse bolted and he was thrown against a tree. It was reported that doctors ‘did all that they could’ but Second Lieutenant Charles Legg died ‘from a fracture of the ribs on the right side with internal injuries accompanied by severe shock’.
Second Lieutenant Charles Legg was 25 when he died and he was buried in Arneke British Cemetery, France.
Second Lieutenant Charles Legg is commemorated in RBAI; on the Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) War Memorial and in the Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) Book of Remembrance.
Charles Legg’s mother, Emma Legg, died at Bayview, Carrickfergus on 18 February 1930 and his father, Charles McFerran Legg JP, died at Bayview, Carrickfergus on 2 August 1934.