Smyth, William (Greenwell Street, Newtownards)
Rifleman
No. 6823, 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
Killed in action on Friday 19 May 1916 (aged 22 CWGC; 25 civil records)
No known grave
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Arras Memorial, France (Bay 9)
Newtownards and District War Memorial (as Wm. Smyth Greenwell Street)
Newtownards Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Mark’s)
Drogheda War Memorial
The Unreturned Army – Co Louth Book of Honour by Donal Hall
BIOGRAPHY
In some records his surname is spelt Smith.
There are three William Smyths commemorated on Newtownards and District War Memorial:
Wm. Smyth Mill Street
Wm. Smyth Greenwell Street
Wm. Smyth North Street
The Newtownards and District War Memorial was unveiled and dedicated on Saturday 26 May 1934 and it was reported in the 2 June 1934 edition of the Newtownards Chronicle that the North Street address inscribed for William Smyth was incorrect and should have been Regent Street instead of North Street.
In the CWGC Debt of Honour website it is recorded that Rifleman William Smyth (No. 6823) was a son of George and Margaret Smyth who lived at 59 Greenwell Street in Newtownards.
In the Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914 – 1919 database it is recorded that Rifleman William Smyth (No. 6823) was born in Drogheda.
William Smyth was born on 27 October 1890 in the townland of Mell, Drogheda, Co Louth and he was a son of George and Margaret Smyth (nee Smith). George Smyth worked as a street musician and general labourer and he and Margaret had at least eleven children including:
George (born around 1885/1886)
William (born 27 October 1890 in Mell, Co Louth)
Adam (born around 1893/1894 in Co Kildare)
Robert (born around 1897/1898)
Prior to the outbreak of the Great War William Smyth worked as a general labourer. He was a member of the Newtownards contingent of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and in August 1914 he enlisted in Newtownards. He served with the 4th Battalion attached 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles.
William Smyth went to the Front in December 1914 and three months later he required hospital treatment after being wounded in the head during the Battle of Neuve Chapelle. He returned to the Front and on 9 May 1915 he was severely wounded in the arm during the fighting around Hill 60. He was in hospital in England until August 1915 and, following rehabilitation, he returned to the Western Front. Rifleman William Smyth was killed in action on 19 May 1916 during heavy enemy bombardment of the trenches.
Members of Lord Londonderry’s Own Church Lads Brigade (CLB) Flute Band placed a For King and Country notice in the 10 June 1916 edition of the Newtownards Chronicle and the following week his family and his loving friend Jessie Stevenson placed a For King and Country notice which contained the verse:
No more will the smile of his countenance brighten
The long, dreary days of the friends left behind;
For no one that knew him could ever forget him,
His ways were so loving, faithful and kind.
At that time William’s brother Adam was stationed at Holywood having been invalided home from the Front six weeks previously. Adam Smyth, 13th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (No. 18809) was discharged from the Army on 4 July 1918 because of Valvular Disease of the Heart (VDH).
Rifleman William Smyth is commemorated on Newtownards and District War Memorial (as Wm Smyth Greenwell Street); in Newtownards Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Mark’s); on Drogheda War Memorial; in The Unreturned Army – Co Louth Book of Honour by Donal Hall.
The Smyth family exemplifies several of the reasons why the ages of family members, the spelling of family surnames, places of birth, and dates of birth are recorded inconsistently in different official documents:
- A family that was not well-off and was constantly on the move
- Many children born (11 stated in 1911 census records) and therefore hard to remember all their ages
- Possibly, some of their children’s births were not registered at all, together with the fact that non-registration of children’s births was an offence punishable by a fine and so, in some cases, families deliberately provided a false date of birth at registration if the registration was being done a significant time after the child was born – to bring registration within the timeframe that saved them from being fined
- Several of their children were unnamed at registration
- A significant level of illiteracy in the family; although George and Margaret both declared in the 1911 census that they could read and write, in the 1901 census and in other documents they declared that they couldn’t.
The following analyses are compiled from the best available evidence. Starting with 1901 and 1911 census data, some members of the family were recorded as living in Rathfriland, Co Down, others were recorded as living in Newtownards, Co Down.
Age in 1901 Age in 1911 Date Born Born (1901) Born (1911)
George 50 54 1850/1857 Co Down Co Down
Margaret 46 50 1854/1860 Co Down Co Down
Lizzie 20 35 1875/1881 Co Armagh Co Down
Mary Jane 18 28 1881/1882 Co Armagh Co Down
George 15 25 1885/1886 Co Armagh Co Down
Martha 13 1887/1888 Co Armagh
William 11 19 1889/1892 Co Armagh Co Down
Adam 11 17 1889/1894 Co Down Co Down
Robert 9 13 1891/1898 Co Down Co Down
In Army documents it is recorded that William Smyth was born in Drogheda, Co Louth and that he was 22 in May 1916, therefore born around 1893/1894.
In Army documents it is recorded that Adam Smyth was born in County Kildare and that he was 19½ in September 1914, therefore born in March 1895. Rifleman Adam Smyth (No. 13/18809), Royal Irish Rifles was discharged from the Army on 4 July 1918 because of valvular disease of the heart and his silver war badge number was 424010.
Mary Jane Smyth and John Finlay were married on 19 October 1903 in St Anne’s Church of Ireland Church, Belfast. Mary Jane’s age was recorded as 22, therefore born around 1880/1881.
Lizzie Smith and George Gregory were married on 11 October 1904 in Newtownards Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Mark’s). Lizzie Gregory (nee Smith) died of bronchitis on 2 February 1917, following childbirth on 28 January 1917. The child lived for just one hour. Lizzie’s age at death was recorded as 31, therefore born around 1885/1886. The age recorded on her headstone in Movilla Cemetery Newtownards is 33; George Gregory died on 30 January 1948 aged 82. In the 1911 census it is recorded that George and Lizzie Gregory (nee Smith) had six children, five still living – Kathleen, George, Henery (sic), David, and John.
Martha Smyth and Andrew Marshall were married on 23 September 1915 in Newtownards Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Mark’s). Rifleman Andrew Marshall (No 6028) was killed in action at the Battle of the Somme on 1 July 1916. He is commemorated on Newtownards and District War Memorial, and in Newtownards Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Mark’s).
George Smyth died at 59 Greenwell Street, Newtownards on 28 October 1934 as the result of cardiac failure. His daughter, Mary Jane Finlay (nee Smyth), was with him when he died, and she made her mark on his death registration. George’s age at death was recorded as 71, therefore born around 1862/1863. If correct, he could not have been the father of Margaret Jane Smith who was born on 20 April 1968. However, his stated age in the 1901 census was 50 and, if that is correct, he would have been 83 when he died, therefore born around 1850/1851 and old enough to be Margaret Jane’s father.
From census records, George and Margaret Smith (nee Smith) had at least 11 children.
From civil registration records these 11 children included:
Forename Date of Birth Place of Birth
Margaret Jane 20 April 1868 Greyfield, Innismagrath, Co Leitrim
Alice 17 June 1877 John Street, Portadown, Co Armagh
Unnamed female 26 February 1879 Markethill, Co Armagh
Unnamed female 27 April 1888 Rampart Street, Dromore, Co Down
Unnamed male (William) 27 October 1890 Mell, Drogheda, Co Louth
Robert 24 August 1897 Roughan, Ramelton, Co Donegal
Alice Smyth died of bronchitis in Markethill on 22 March 1879.
George Smith’s occupation is variously recorded as tinsmith, tinker, itinerant tinker, tramp, musician, street musician, temporary musician, fiddler, general labourer, and agricultural labourer. When George registered the births of any of his children, he ‘made his mark’ – further evidence that he was not able to read nor write.
Church baptism records from Roots Ireland provide further information about George and Margaret Smith’s children, although some of the detail lacks authenticity.
There is a record stating that Rebecca Smith was born on 30 October 1882 (sic) in Saintfield, Co Down and was baptised on 4 March 1882 (sic) in Thurles Parish Church of Ireland Church, Co Tipperary (clearly there is an error in these dates).
There is a record stating that Mary Jane Smith was born on 1 November 1883 at ‘no fixed abode’ and was baptised on 6 February 1884 in Clonmel Parish Church of Ireland Church, Co Waterford.
There is a record stating that Martha Smith was born on 30 August 1888 in Tuam, Co Galway and was baptised on 9 March 1889 in Tuam Parish Church of Ireland Church.
There is a record stating that Adam Smith was born on 15 June 1892 in Francis Street, Kilkee, Co Clare and was baptised on 17 August 1892 in Kilrush Parish Church of Ireland Church, Co Clare. [Is it conceivable that Kilkee, Co Clare somehow got recorded as Co Kildare at Adam’s enlistment?]
These children were born over a 29-year period between 20 April 1868 and 24 August 1897 – a somewhat longer than usual period for a woman to be childbearing – unless she was very young when her first child was born.
Clearly this a family where it is difficult to establish definitive, corroborated details. No record of George and Margaret Smith’s marriage had yet been found.
An ancillary question that occurs is this, what form of transport did George and Margaret Smith, and their children, use to travel the distances they did from one place of abode to another?