Simonton, Mason
Private
No. 5634, 20th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)
Died on Thursday 20 July 1916 (aged 21)
Buried:
Serre Road Cemetery No. 2, France (Grave XIV. A. 13)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Comber Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church
Belfast (Rosemary Street) Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church
Family grave headstone in Comber Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Graveyard
Methodist College Belfast
Journey of Remembering Belfast Book of Honour
First World War Roll of Honour of the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland
BIOGRAPHY
Mason Simonton was born on 30 September 1894 in the townland of Ballycloughan and he was a son of William Davidson Simonton and Jenny Simonton (nee Mason, born in America) who were married around 1893/1894.
The Simonton family lived at Sheelah, 1 Malone Park, Belfast.
William Simonton was a box maker/packing case manufacturer and tea merchant and he and Jenny had at least three children:
Mason (born 30 September 1894 in Ballycloughan)
Ellen (born 8 June 1896 in Ballycloughan; died 30 May 1976)
William Brian (born 20 October 1897 in Ballycloughan)
The Simonton family worshipped in Comber Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church
Mason Simonton enlisted in Belfast and he served with the 20th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers.
Private Mason Simonton was 21 when he died at High Wood on 20 July 1916 during the Battle of the Somme and he was buried in Serre Road Cemetery No. 2, France.
Private Mason Simonton is commemorated in Comber Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church and on the family headstone in the adjoining graveyard; in Belfast (Rosemary Street) Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church; in Methodist College Belfast; in the Belfast Book of Honour (Page 586) and in the First World War Roll of Honour of the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland.
During the Great War, Mason’s brother William Brian Simonton served with the Royal Irish Fusiliers.
Mason’s father William died on 18 January 1929 and his mother Jenny died on 8 April 1946 (aged 77).