Savage, William
Rifleman
No. 13/18737, ‘A’ Company, 13th Battalion transferred to
8th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
Died of wounds on Friday 8 June 1917 (aged 23)
Buried:
Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension (Nord), France (Grave III. C. 238)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Holywood and District War Memorial
Holywood Orange Lodges Memorial Plaque
Holywood Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Philip & St James)
Brother of Driver James Savage (No. T/26056)
Nephew of Rifleman Joseph Cosgrove Savage (No. 12417)
BIOGRAPHY
In the Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914 – 1919 database it is recorded that Rifleman William Savage (No. 13/18737) was born in Craigavad and he enlisted in Holywood.
Rifleman William Savage (No. 13/18737) served with the 13th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles in 108th Brigade of the 36th (Ulster) Division. He was reported missing on 1 July 1916 and then found severely wounded. Later he was posted to the 8th Battalion and he died of wounds on 8 June 1917.
Rifleman William Savage (No. 13/18737) was buried in Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension (Nord) in France.
In the Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects, his sole legatee was his father, William Savage.
William Thomas Savage was born on 10 February 1894 in Craigavad and he was a son of William Thomas and Margaret (Maggie) Savage (nee McDowell) who were married on 13 February 1888 in St Anne’s Church of Ireland Church Belfast. William Thomas Savage (aged 21), a gardener from 2 Lake Street, Belfast was a son of James Savage, a labourer. Margaret McDowell (aged 18) from 45 Mackie Street, Belfast was a daughter of Patrick McDowell, a shoemaker.
William Thomas Savage worked as a gardener, labourer and coachman and he and Margaret had at least five children:
James (born 6 June 1889 in Strand Street, Holywood)
Mary Horner (born 30 November 1891 in Craigavad)
William Thomas (born 10 February 1894 in Craigavad)
Elizabeth (born 19 April 1896 in Craigavad)
Margaret (born 12 July 1898 in Craigavad)
Their mother, Margaret (Maggie) Savage died of an embolism on 19 April 1901 (aged 30). Maggie’s mother, Mary McDowell, was with her when she died.
In 1911 their widowed father, William Thomas Savage, was living at 12 High Street, Holywood with his parents, James and Eliza Savage, and his five children – James, Mary, William, Elizabeth and Margaret.
Rifleman William Savage (No. 13/18737) was 23 when he died, he was buried in Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension (Nord) in France and he is commemorated on Holywood and District War Memorial; on the Holywood Orange Lodges Memorial Plaque, and in Holywood Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Philip & St James).