Walker, Samuel
Driver
No. 39071, 7th Battery, Royal Field Artillery
Died of wounds on Sunday 4 April 1915 (aged 32)
No known grave
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Ploegsteert Memorial, Belgium (Panel 1)
Newtownards and District War Memorial
Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) Roll of Honour 1914 – 1919 for
Greenwell Street Presbyterian Church Newtownards
BIOGRAPHY
The death of Driver Samuel Walker (No. 39071) was reported in the 24 July 1915 edition of the Newtownards Chronicle by means of a letter written by Gunner T. McCreadie who at that time was serving with the Royal Field Artillery in India. In the letter, Gunner McCreadie described himself as ‘the last Newtownards man left in India’. Gunner McCreadie said that he had been informed about Driver Walker’s death by Driver Walker’s Sergeant Major, in response to a letter sent to Driver Walker by Gunner McCreadie which arrived after his death.
In the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) Debt of Honour Website it is recorded that Samuel Walker was a son of Mrs Agnes Walker of 77 Church Street, Newtownards. He was, in fact, her step-son.
Samuel Walker was born around 1882/1883 in Newtownards and he was a son of Samuel Walker. After his wife died, Samuel Walker Senior married Agnes Gibson on 3 March 1894 in Greenwell Street Presbyterian Church Newtownards. Samuel Walker was a weaver and a widower from Newtownards and he was a son of Samuel Walker, a labourer. Agnes Gibson was a spinster from Newtownards and she was a daughter of Hugh Gibson, a labourer.
Agnes Gibson had at least two children before she and Samuel Walker were married:
Margaret (Maggie, born 5 July 1884 in Newtownards Workhouse; Maggie’s mother Agnes was from the country)
Thomas Henry (born 17 February 1888 in Newtownards Workhouse; Thomas’s mother Agnes was from Kilmood)
Samuel and Agnes Walker lived at 77 Church Street, Newtownards and, before that, in West Street, Newtownards.
Samuel Walker had at least four children before he and Agnes Gibson were married:
Samuel (born around 1882/1883)
William (born around 1885/1886)
(Agnes born around 1887/1888)
Sarah Ann (born 4 May 1889 in Greenwell Street, Newtownards; daughter of Samuel and Susanna Walker (nee McClean)
Susanna Walker died of post-partum haemorrhage in Greenwell Street on 15 May 1889 (aged 36).
Before he joined the Army on 7 April 1902, Samuel Walker worked as an agricultural labourer on William Rankin’s farm in the townland of Loughriscouse, Newtownards. It was noted in his attestation papers that he was 5 feet 5 inches tall with a fresh complexion, blue eyes and dark brown hair.
When the Great War began, Samuel Walker was serving in India. He was posted to Europe where he served with the Royal Field Artillery. Driver Samuel Walker was 32 when he died of wounds on 4 April 1915 and he has no known grave.
Driver Samuel Walker is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial in Belgium; on Newtownards and District War Memorial and in the PCI Roll of Honour for Greenwell Street Presbyterian Church Newtownards.