Peacock, John Luddington (John)
Lieutenant
150th Field Company, Royal Engineers, 36th (Ulster) Division
Killed in action on Saturday 1 July 1916 (aged 35)
Buried:
Connaught Cemetery, France (Grave XI. L. 3)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Newtownards and District War Memorial
Newtownards Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Mark’s)
Southery War Memorial, Co Norfolk
Church of England Church at Little Ouse, Littleport
BIOGRAPHY
John Luddington Peacock was the youngest son of John Luddington Peacock and Mary G. Peacock who lived in Southery Manor, Downham Market, Norfolk. He came to Newtownards in 1910 to take up the duties of clerk of works and resident engineer on behalf of the Urban Council in connection with the town’s sewerage scheme; prior to that he had been in charge of similar schemes in England. When the vacancy occurred for the post of Town Surveyor in Newtownards he was elected to the position in December 1912. In January 1915 he ‘offered his services to his King and country’ and joined the Ulster Division. He served with the 150th Field Company (formerly with the 224th Field Company) Royal Engineers and he came home to Newtownards for a short period of leave in early June 1916.
Lieutenant John Luddington Peacock was 35 when he was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme and he was buried in Connaught Cemetery, France. There is an inscription on his CWGC headstone:
JESU MERCY
Lieutenant John Luddington Peacock is commemorated on Newtownards and District War Memorial and in Newtownards Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Mark’s).
In the May 1917 issue of the Southery Parish Magazine it was reported that a stained glass window in memory of John Luddington Peacock had been unveiled in the Church of England Church at Little Ouse, Littleport (the Church where his father was a churchwarden). The window comprised two lights with St Michael on the right side and St George on the left side. The window bore the inscription:
‘To the Glory of God and in loving memory of John Luddington Peacock, Lieutenant RE, the youngest son of John Luddington and Mary G. Peacock who laid down his life for his country in France on 1 July 1916. RIP’.
Lieutenant Peacock is also commemorated on Southery War Memorial.