Adams, Samuel L.

Died on Wednesday 5 May 1943

Commemorated:

County Down Spectator Roll of Honour

BIOGRAPHY

Samuel L. Adams was not a casualty of war but his name is included in this website as an example of someone whose name was wrongly listed in a newspaper Roll of Honour column for Second World War casualties.  Three names:  Samuel L. Adams, William Beggs and Kennedy (forename not given) were included in the Roll of Honour column in the 7 April 1945 edition of the County Down Spectator and there was a memorial notice for Samuel L. Adams which read:

Adams – Treasured memories of a loving husband and father, Samuel L. Adams who died April 5, 1943. 

Always remembered by all at 29 May Avenue, Bangor. 

The previous year, in the 8 April 1944 edition of the County Down Spectator, there was a similarly worded memorial notice in the In Memoriam column.

The death of Samuel L. Adams on 5 May 1943 was reported in the 10 April 1943 edition of the County Down Spectator.  The report indicated that Samuel L. Adams was about sixty years of age and that he had ‘passed away with startling suddenness’ at his residence, 29 May Avenue, Bangor.  The report stated that he was actively associated with First Bangor Presbyterian Church, a member of the choir and ‘keenly interested in music’.  He was survived by his wife and grown-up family.

Desk searches and public appeals for information have confirmed that these three men who were listed in the Roll of Honour column in the 7 April 1945 edition of the County Down Spectator did not die in service during the Second World War.  Their names were inserted in error in that edition’s Roll of Honour column.