Moore, William
Lance Corporal
No. 14895, 6th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
Killed in action on Wednesday 11 August 1915 (aged 45)
No known grave
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Helles Memorial, Gallipoli, Turkey (Panel 177 and 178)
Newtownards and District War Memorial
Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) Roll of Honour 1914 – 1919 for
Greenwell Street Presbyterian Church Newtownards
Roll of Honour for Loyal Orange Lodge (LOL) No. 240, Newtownards
BIOGRAPHY
William Moore was born on 2 February 1870 in the townland of Loughriscouse, Newtownards and he was a son of Thomas and Agnes (sometimes Eliza) Moore (nee McGourin, sometimes Magourin, sometimes Gourley) who were married on 23 November 1869 in Newtownards Parish Church of Ireland Church. Thomas Moore, a labourer from Newtownards, was a son of James Moore, a labourer. Eliza McGourin (aged 17) from Newtownards was a daughter of Hugh McGourin, a labourer. At civil birth registration William’s forename was registered as James. Similarly, William had a brother whose forename was registered as John, later known as David (at marriage registration he used both forenames, David John).
Thomas and Agnes Moore (nee McGourin) had at least eight children:
James (William, born 2 February 1870 at Loughriscouse, Newtownards)
Margaret (born 8 August 1871 at Loughriscouse, Newtownards; married Julius Arnold 9 October 1893; died of phthisis 19 October 1894; her son William was born 18 March 1894, and he died of convulsions 23 November 1894)
Isabella (born 30 October 1873 at Loughriscouse, Newtownards; died of phthisis 22 July 1895 aged 21)
John (David, born 1 May 1875 at Loughriscouse, Newtownards; married Margaret Logan 20 January 1898)
Francis (born 9 December 1878 at Loughriscouse, Newtownards; died of phthisis 5 October 1884)
Mary (born 28 September 1880 at Loughriscouse, Newtownards)
Samuel Smyth (born 19 July 1883 at Loughriscouse, Newtownards)
Thomas (born 15 April 1886 at Loughriscouse, Newtownards; died of croup 22 February 1887)
Their mother, Agnes Moore, died of pneumonia at Loughriscouse, Newtownards on 14 April 1889 (aged 36). Her daughter Isabella was with her when she died.
Thomas Moore and Mary Jane Robb were married on 23 October 1889 in Newtownards Methodist Church. Thomas Moore, a widowed labourer from Loughriscouse, Newtownards was a son of James Moore, a pensioner. Mary Jane Robb, a spinster from Frederick Street, Newtownards was a daughter of Willam Robb, a labourer. Mary Jane Robb already had a son, Andrew Rankin Robb, who was born on 17 March 1885 at Ballyalicock, Newtownards.
In 1901 Thomas and Mary Jane Moore (nee Robb) were living in Loughriscouse with their son Samuel Moore and Thomas’s stepson, Andrew Robb.
Thomas Moore died of pernicious anaemia at 2 Flora Street, Belfast on 11 March 1905 (aged 53). His stepson Andrew Robb was with him when he died.
In 1911 Andrew Robb’s mother, Mary Jane Moore, was living with Andrew and his wife Rachael, and their two children, Isabel and Andrew, in Dunvegan Street, Belfast.
William Moore was a career soldier and before he enlisted, he worked as a farm labourer in the townland of Crossnamuckley, Newtownards.
William Moore served for twelve years in the Royal Artillery (No. 57991, enlisted at Londonderry 11 November 1886), four years in the Royal Garrison Artillery (No. 57991, enlisted at Durham on 6 December 1898) and three years as a Special Reservist in the Royal Irish Rifles. Later, in civilian life he worked as a quarryman in Gill’s Quarries at Scrabo, Newtownards and he was a member of the Rising Sons of William Loyal Orange Lodge (LOL) No. 240 in Newtownards.
William Moore and Ann Jane Robinson were married on 12 July 1894 in Ballyblack Presbyterian Church.
They lived at 154 Greenwell Street, Newtownards and had at least eleven children:
Thomas (born 10 March 1895 in Ballyhaft; died of bronchitis 9 August 1895)
Eliza Jane Mullan (Ellen, born 8 March 1896 in Ballywatticock; died of tetanus 20 March 1896)
Agnes Mary (born 25 January 1897 in Ballywatticock)
Eleanor Jane Edgar (Ellen, born 7 February 1900 in Ballywatticock)
Anna Elizabeth Hamilton (born 22 May 1901 in Ballywatticock)
Jemima (Emma, born 27 August 1903 in Greenwell Street, Newtownards)
Margaret Tomlinson (Maggie, born 26 March 1905 in Greenwell Street, Newtownards)
Maud Black (born 10 March 1908 in Greenwell Street, Newtownards)
James Tomlinson (born 22 January 1911 in Greenwell Street, Newtownards; died of enteritis 13 September 1911)
Isabella (born 11 August 1913)
Wilhelmina (born 24 February 1915 in Greenwell Street, Newtownards)
At least eight of the children were baptised in Greenwell Street Presbyterian Church, Newtownards.
After the outbreak of the Great War William Moore re-enlisted in Newtownards and he was attached to the 6th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles in 29th Brigade of the 10th (Irish) Division. He was killed in action at the Dardanelles on 11 August 1915 and he left behind a widow and eight daughters, the youngest of whom he never saw. A comrade who witnessed William’s death said that he met with ‘an instantaneous and painless call’. He went on, ‘The huge shell which caused havoc of slaughter made a hole in the ground as large as one of Gill’s quarries on Scrabo’.
William’s widow Ann placed a Killed in Action notice in the 11 September 1915 edition of the Newtownards Chronicle and it contained the verse:
Sleep in peace, O dearest husband,
Thou art happy, thou art blest;
Earthly cares and sorrows ended,
Nought can break thy holy rest.
Yet again we hope to meet him
When the day of life is fled,
And in heaven with joy to greet him,
Where no farewell tear is shed.
On 27 March 1916 it was reported in the Newtownards Chronicle that William Moore’s daughter Maud (aged 6) had sustained serious burns after her clothes caught fire while her mother was cooking. Lance Corporal William Moore is commemorated on Newtownards and District War Memorial and in the PCI Roll of Honour for Greenwell Street Presbyterian Church Newtownards.
Lance Corporal William Moore‘s widow and family placed an Our Heroes – In Memoriam notice in the 5 August 1916 edition of the Newtownards Chronicle and it contained the verse:
Some time, some day my eyes shall see
Thy face I loved so well;
Someday I’ll clasp your loving hand,
And never say farewell.
Though silent your voice, though vacant your chair,
Sweet are the memories that still linger there.
Our love unaltered, will ever remain
Till in Heaven we’ll meet you, dear William again.
Lance Corporal William Moore ‘s widow and family placed an Our Heroes – In Memoriam notice in the 11 August 1917 edition of the Newtownards Chronicle and it contained the verse:
We do not forget him, nor do we intend,
We think of him always, and will to the end;
We mourn him in sorrow and silence unseen
And dwell on the memory of days that have been.
Lance Corporal William Moore ‘s widow and family placed an Our Heroes – In Memoriam notice in the 10 August 1918 edition of the Newtownards Chronicle and it contained the verse:
Three years have passed since that sad day,
When one we loved was called away;
His heart was good, his spirit brave,
His resting place – a soldier’s grave.
Lance Corporal William Moore (No. 14895) has no known grave and he is commemorated on the Helles Memorial, Gallipoli, Turkey; on Newtownards and District War Memorial; in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) Roll of Honour 1914 – 1919 for Greenwell Street Presbyterian Church Newtownards and on the Roll of Honour for Loyal Orange Lodge (LOL) No. 240, Newtownards.