McClure, Joseph (Joe)

Petty Officer

Royal Navy

Died on Monday 21 January 1924 (aged 43)

Buried:

Newtownards (Movilla) Cemetery, Co. Down

Commemorated:

Newtownards and District War Memorial

BIOGRAPHY

The name Joseph McClure is listed on Newtownards and District War Memorial and in the booklet produced for the Unveiling and Dedication Ceremony held on Saturday 26 May 1934 he is described as a Petty Officer in the Royal Navy.  The organising committee of the day decided to include the names of ex-servicemen who died up to that date from what they considered to be war related causes, whether as a result of wounds or disease.

Petty Officer Joseph McClure died on 21 January 1924 and his death was reported in the 26 January 1924 edition of the Newtownards Chronicle.  It was reported that, as a boy, he had worked for a time in the Glen Printing and Finishing Works and then in the Castle Gardens Spinning Mill.  He joined the Royal Navy at the age of 16 years and he had 27 years of service when he was demobilised in England in July 1919.  He had served aboard HMS Superb, HMS Tribune and HMS Royal Sovereign and during the Great War he had fought in the Battle of Jutland.  He had also served for a time in the submarine service.

After demobilisation Joseph McClure lived at 35 James Street, Newtownards and he worked for the postal service.  He was 43 when he died of bronchitis on 21 January 1924 and at his funeral Captain Rayner and Staff-Sergeant Cooper represented the military.  As the hearse passed Army Headquarters in Regent Street Newtownards the guard presented arms.  There were many floral tributes, among them one from his sisters Sarah and Margaret.

Joseph McClure was born on 6 June 1880 in Regent Street, Newtownards and he was a son of Samuel and Margaret (Maggie) McClure (nee Robb, sometimes Robbs) who were married on 12 July 1879 in First Newtownards Presbyterian Church.  Samuel McClure from Newtownards was a son of William McClure, a stone mason.  Margaret Robb from Newtownards was a daughter of Alexander Robb, a weaver.

Samuel McClure worked as a stone mason and he and Margaret had at least six children:

Joseph (born 6 June 1880 in Regent Street, Newtownards)

Margaret (Maggie, born 24 March 1882 in James Street, Newtownards)

Thomas (born 24 May 1884 in James Street, Newtownards)

Sarah Jane (born 23 July 1886 in James Street, Newtownards)

Maggie (born 13 November 1888 in James Street, Newtownards)

William (born 27 February 1891 in James Street, Newtownards)