Robson, Richard Ivan (Richard)
Military Cross
Captain
15th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles previously
Sergeant (No. 18701)
‘A’ Company, 13th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
Died of wounds on Monday 6 August 1917 (aged 26)
Buried:
Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Belgium (Grave XV. A. 9)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Bangor and District War Memorial
Comrades of the Great War (Bangor Branch) Album in North Down Museum
Memorial Plaque in Royal British Legion (Bangor Branch)
Memorial Plaque in Bangor Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Comgall’s)
Family grave headstone in Belfast City Cemetery
BIOGRAPHY
Richard Ivan Robson was born on 3 April 1891 in Notting Hill, Belfast and he was the elder son of John and Elizabeth (Bessie) Robson (nee Finlay) who were married on 1 July 1890 in Fisherwick Presbyterian Church in Belfast.
The Robson family lived in Malone Road, Belfast before they moved to Glenoe, 85 Princetown Road, Bangor.
John Robson was a livestock auctioneer and merchant and he and Bessie had four children:
Richard Ivan (born 3 April 1891 in Notting Hill, Belfast)
Norah Annette (born 19 August 1893 in Notting Hill, Belfast)
Joseph Gatrick (born 17 March 1901 in Malone Road, Belfast)
Elizabeth (born 1 April 1906 in Dunmurry, Drumbeg)
Their father, John Robson, died in the Royal Victoria Hospital on 19 July 1911 (aged 57) and their mother, Bessie, died on 16 August 1943 (aged 77). Both were buried in Belfast City Cemetery.
Richard Ivan Robson was educated at Blackwood’s Preparatory School in Northamptonshire and then at Oundle School in Northamptonshire where he was a House Prefect. He shot at Bisley for the Ashburton Shield and was noted for his swimming and diving prowess.
When war broke out Richard Robson was in Dublin University preparing to enter the Divinity School.
Richard Robson had been a Company Commander in the Bangor contingent of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and he joined the Ulster Division. He was a Sergeant (No. 18701) with the 13th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles before being commissioned in October 1914 into the 15th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (North Belfast Volunteers) in 107th Brigade of the 36th (Ulster) Division. He was awarded the Military Cross in the spring of 1916 for gallantry in the field and was on active service during the Battles of the Somme and Messines.
Captain Richard Ivan Robson was 26 when he died of wounds on 6 August 1917 and he was buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Belgium. There is an inscription on his CWGC headstone:
PEACE PERFECT PEACE
Captain Richard Ivan Robson MC is commemorated on Bangor and District War Memorial; in the Comrades of the Great War (Bangor Branch) Album in North Down Museum (Page 34); on the Memorial Plaque in Royal British Legion (Bangor Branch); on the Memorial Plaque in Bangor Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Comgall’s) and on the family grave headstone in Belfast City Cemetery.
Captain Robson was a brother-in-law of the Rev John Reginald McDonald MA who was a Curate in Bangor Parish Church. The Rev McDonald and Norah Annette Robson were married on 18 July 1916 in Bangor Parish Church.