Malcolm, William
Private
No. 8204, 1st Battalion, Princess Victoria’s (Royal Irish Fusiliers)
Killed in action on Sunday 25 April 1915
No known grave
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium (Panel 42)
Ballyrobert Orange Hall (LOL 1920)
BIOGRAPHY
In the Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914 – 1919 database it is recorded that Private William Malcolm (No. 8204) was born in Holywood, lived in Craigavad and enlisted in Belfast.
Private William Malcolm (No. 8204) served with the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers and was killed in action on 25 April 1915.
Initially, Private William Malcolm (No. 8204) was reported missing in action and it was reported in the Press that his mother lived at 1 High Street, Holywood and his brother, Rifleman S. Malcolm, had been wounded in action.
In the Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects his mother is named as Mrs Eliza J. Fisher; there is evidence that, at other times, she used the forenames Eliza, Eliza Jane, Elizabeth and Lizzie.
Elizabeth Malcolm and Hugh Fisher were married on 7 July 1897 in Ballygilbert Presbyterian Church. Elizabeth Malcolm, a spinster from Ballyrobert, was a daughter of Alexander Malcolm, a labourer. Hugh Fisher, a labourer from Ballyrobert, was a son of Thomas Fisher, a labourer.
Hugh and Elizabeth Fisher (nee Malcolm) had at least three children:
Katherine (born 14 July 1898 in Ballygrainey); mother’s forename Elizabeth
Agnes Jane (born 2 July 1901 in Craigavad); mother’s forename Elizabeth
James Ernest (born 24 July 1903 in Ballygrainey); mother’s forename Lizzie
In the 1901 census it was recorded that the Fisher family lived in Ballygrainey, Holywood; mother’s forename Lizzie and her stated age 28 – she was in fact 31.
In the 1911 census it was recorded that the Fisher family lived in Ballygrainey, Holywood; mother’s forename Eliza Jane and her stated age 38 – she was in fact 41.
Elizabeth Malcolm was born on 23 July 1869 in Craigavad and she was a daughter of Alexander and Catherine Malcolm (nee Dunwoodie, sometimes Dunwoody). Her sister Ellenor was born on 2 July 1871 in Ballydavey; her brother John was born on 30 September 1875 in Ballydavey and her sister Mary was born on 17 December 1876 in Ballyrobert.
Elizabeth Malcolm was nine when her mother, Catherine Malcolm, died of cancer in Ballyrobert on 5 July 1879 (aged 30).
In 1901 William Malcolm (aged 15) was living in Ballyrobert with his widowed grandfather, Alexander Malcolm. Both Alexander and William Malcolm worked as agricultural labourers.
Alexander Malcolm died of cardiac failure in Ballygrainey on 12 December 1904 (aged 70). His son-in-law, Hugh Fisher, was with him when he died.
By 1911 William Malcolm (aged 27) was a Private in the Army and his trade/profession was listed as Musician.
A William John Malcolm was born on 12 May 1885 in Belfast Workhouse and he was a son of an unmarried Eliza Jane Malcolm.