Patton, Samuel Forbes (Samuel)
Driver
No. 13/600, 8th Battery, 2nd Brigade, New Zealand Field Artillery
Died of disease on Wednesday 24 July 1918 (aged 27)
Buried:
Newtownards (Movilla) Cemetery, Co. Down (Grave 4. 49)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
New Zealand World War One Roll of Honour
Newtownards and District War Memorial
Ballyblack Presbyterian Church
BIOGRAPHY
Samuel Forbes Patton was born on 3 December 1890 in the townland of Ballyrea and he was the youngest son of Alexander and Mary Patton (nee Johnston) who were married on 7 February 1873 in Ballywalter Presbyterian Church.
Alexander Patton was a farmer in the townlands of Ballyharry and Ballyrea, Newtownards and he and Mary had at least nine children:
William (born around 1873, died 15 December 1932 in New Zealand)
Ann Eliza (Annie, born 10 November 1873)
David (born 19 January 1875, died 9 March 1911 aged 35)
Alexander (born 21 May 1879, died 17 August 1933 in New Zealand)
Eliza (Lizzie, born 30 April 1881, died 10 May 1906 aged 24)
Mary Sophia (Minnie, born 28 September 1883, died 24 December 1925 aged 42)
John (born 31 December 1885; died 29 November 1946 in Bangor)
Jane (Jennie, born 17 December 1887, died 24 July 1980 aged 92)
Samuel Forbes (born 3 December 1890 in Ballyrea)
Sarah Johnston (born 28 July 1893, died 6 September 1893)
Samuel Forbes Patton was baptised in Strean Presbyterian Church Newtownards. His mother, Mary Patton, died on 31 August 1903 (aged 53) and the family moved to the townland of Crossnamuckley, Newtownards. His father, Alexander Patton, died on 27 February 1927 (aged 82).
Two of Samuel Patton’s brothers, David and Alexander, served in the South African War. David served in the Cape Mounted Rifles and escaped after being taken prisoner by the Boers.
Samuel Patton moved to Te Puke in North Island, New Zealand where he worked as a farm labourer and he enlisted there a short time before the outbreak of the Great War. Initially he served as a Trooper in the Auckland Mounted Rifles in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. He left Auckland on 16 October 1914 bound for Suez in Egypt.
Driver Samuel Patton was wounded in the Dardanelles campaign and although he recovered from his wounds he contracted an illness that ultimately led to his death. On 25 June 1916 Samuel Patton was discharged from the Army and it was reported in the Press that he bore his illness stoically throughout. Samuel Patton was 27 when he died of consumption at his father’s residence in Crossnamuckley, Newtownards and on Friday 26 July 1918 he was buried with military honours in the family burying ground in Movilla Cemetery.
The firing party and buglers from the Norfolk Regiment came from Clandeboye Camp, Bangor. The day after Samuel’s funeral his father placed a death notice in the Newtownards Chronicle. At the morning service in Ballyblack Presbyterian Church on 28 July 1918 the Rev R. Graham paid tribute to Samuel Patton and the congregation extended their sympathy to the Patton family.
Driver Samuel Patton (No. 13/600) is commemorated on Newtownards and District War Memorial and in Ballyblack Presbyterian Church.