Nelson, Samuel Horace
Lance Corporal
No. 47497, Liverpool Regiment, transferred to
No. 47645, 18th Battalion, Manchester Regiment
Killed in action on Wednesday 31 October 1917 (aged 20)
Buried:
Messines Ridge British Cemetery, Belgium (Grave III. D. 25)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
BIOGRAPHY
In the 10 November 1917 edition of the Newtownards Chronicle there was a For King and Country notice reporting the death of Lance Corporal Samuel Horace Nelson on 31 October 1917. The notice stated that he was the youngest son of Mr and Mrs S. Nelson, 52 Beaumont Street, Liverpool.
The birth of Samuel Horace Nelson was registered in the fourth quarter of 1897 in Toxteth, Liverpool and he was a son of Samuel and Elizabeth Nelson (nee Harrocks).
Samuel Horace Nelson was baptised in St. Silas’s Church, Liverpool on 9 November 1897.
Samuel Nelson Senior was born in the townland of Ballyaltikilligan, Comber, Co Down and he worked as a shoe salesman. Samuel and Elizabeth Nelson had six children:
Ernest H. (born around 1877)
Albert H. (born around 1879)
Edith J. (born around 1881; married Robert Duffin)
William G. (born around 1884)
Lily (born around 1886)
Samuel Horace (born October 1897)
Samuel Horace Nelson enlisted in Liverpool on 11 May 1916 and he served with the Liverpool Regiment (No. 47497) before being transferred to the Manchester Regiment (No. 47645). In his attestation papers it was noted that he was 18 years 7 months old (born in October 1897). He was 5 feet 3⅞ inches tall and he cited his mother Elizabeth as his next-of-kin.
Lance Corporal Samuel Horace Nelson was posted to France on 6 January 1917 and he was 20 when he was killed in action on 31 October 1917.
A For King and Country notice reporting Lance Corporal Samuel Horace Nelson’s death was placed in the 10 November 1917 edition of the Newtownards Chronicle because of his father’s connection with the Ards area – born in the townland of Ballyaltikilligan.
On 1 June 1922 Lance Corporal Samuel Horace Nelson’s mother acknowledged receipt of his British War Medal and his Victory Medal.