Belfast Banking Company, 1 Queen Street, Warrenpoint, Co. Down

BBCo Warrenpoint - Google Earth Street ViewThe Belfast Banking Company opened their branch in Warrenpoint in 1914. In 1970 the branch was rebranded as Northern Bank (Belfast Bank Branch). Danske Bank trading as Northern Bank closed the branch in 2013. Following a few years of redevelopment, the building is soon to go on the market as retail space and 2 apartments upstairs. This article presents the history of the building through historical maps, newspaper clippings, ledgers and photographs.

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Castlereagh Road Methodist Church / Cregagh Methodist Church

Castlereagh Road / Cregagh Methodist 

Gavin Bamford and Nigel Henderson, from History Hub Ulster, together with friend John McCormick recently visited Cregagh Methodist Church to view their Great War ‘War Memorial’.  Rev. Ken Connor facilitated our visit.

Cregagh Great War ‘War Memorial’

As we were discussing and photographing the memorial, Rev. Ken Connor appeared with the nicely framed Castlereagh Road Methodist Church ‘Roll of Honour’ in his hands.

This Great War ‘Roll of Honour’ had been out of the public eye for many years. The dates on the hand-written parchment roll (pictured above) are from 1914 to 1917. The year 1917 is unusual but may simply mean that no more men from that congregation volunteered after 1917. 

Castlereagh Road Church ‘Roll of Honour’

 

A quick reconciliation of the names on both plaque & parchment showed that many names were duplicated. Later research showed that a temporary Methodist Church was built in 1894 on ground at the junction of Castlereagh Road with Clara Street. In 1912 the congregation took the decision to move to another site. The war intervened with their plans. In 1923 an option on a site on the Castlereagh Road was agreed and a new church was opened in 1927.

Castlereagh Road Methodist Church becomes Cregagh Methodist Church

Robert Allison Haldane was born on 10th May 1874 at Milton in Lanarkshire to Thomas Haldane and Margaret Haldane (nee Allison). He married Jessie Horn on 17th June 1898 at Blythswood Congregational Church in Glasgow. Their first two children were born in Scotland but they were living at Kingscourt Street in the Ormeau Ward when their third child was born in January 1903.

In 1911, Robert, Jessie and their six children were living at Glenvarnock Street off the Cregagh Road and Robert was employed as a moulder in an iron works. Robert Haldane enlisted with the 8th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles and his is the fifth name on the Roll of Honour for Castlereagh Road Methodist. Robert Allison Haldane, the last child of Robert and Jessie, was born at 162 Templemore Street on 8th April 1915, two months before his father left Ireland with the 36th (Ulster) Division. 

Robert Allison Haldane was Killed in Action on 2nd July 1916, aged 42, and has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing in France. Jessie Haldane received a War Gratuity of £8 in November 1919 and a weekly pension of twenty-seven shillings from March 1917 for herself and five children under the age of 16. On 10th November 1929, Master Robert Allison Haldane laid a wreath on behalf of the Boys’ Brigade at the unveiling of the Cregagh War Memorial in the colony of house built for veterans of the Great War. He was wearing the three service medals awarded to his father.

On the war memorial tablet, there are several sets of brothers, including the Cesar brothers. Three sons of Robert Cesar, a lithographic printer, and Mary Callwell of Tildarg Street served in the Great War and the family was recorded as “Presbyterian” in the 1901 Census and the 1911 Census.

Norman Cesar was born on 30th May 1896 at Portallo Street and was a labourer when he enlisted in Belfast with 4th (Reserve) Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers on 7th August 1914. His religious denomination was recorded as “Presbyterian”.  He joined the 1st Battalion on the Gallipoli Peninsula on 18th July 1915. The battalion was withdrawn from Gallipoli in January 1916 and transferred to the Western Front in March 1916. He sustained gunshot wounds to the side on 1st July 1916 and to the right leg on 27th January 1917. The latter necessitated evacuation to the UK and, when fully recovered, he was posted to the 7th Battalion in May 1917. He sustained gunshot wounds to the head on 11th August 1917 which necessitated evacuation to UK. He was subsequently posted to the 6th Battalion in November 1917. Norman Cesar was transferred to the Class Z Army Reserve on 12th March 1919.

John Ernest Cesar was born on 3rd July 1894 at McClure Street and was a labourer when he enlisted with 4th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in Belfast on 20th March 1911, his denomination being recorded as “Presbyterian”. He transferred to the Regular Army on 29th August 1912. He was stationed at Dover with 2nd Battalion at the outbreak of the war and was deployed to the Western Front on 23rd August 1914. He remained in the same battalion throughout the war and held the rank of Lance-Corporal when he was discharged due to wounds on 12th May 1919, with Silver War Badge Number B197457. Ernest Cesar received a 40% Disablement Pension in respect of gunshot wounds to the chest at the rate of sixteen shillings per week from April 1920.

Robert Cesar was born on 15th December 1889 at McClure Street in Cromac Ward. He was stationed in the Far East with the 1st Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in 1911 and in India on the outbreak of the war. His battalion was recalled from India, arriving in England in January 1915 and being incorporated into the newly-formed 29th Division. The division departed England for the Eastern Mediterranean in Marc 1915 and Robert Cesar landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula with on 25th April 1915. He was killed in action on 22nd May 1915, aged 25, and is buried in the Twelve Tree Copse Cemetery on the Gallipoli Peninsula. Mary Cesar received a War Gratuity of £5 in July 1919.

Soldiers research undertaken by Nigel Henderson

Laying of the Foundation Stone of Cregagh Methodist Church

Master Robert Haldane at the Unveiling of the War Memorial,  19th November 1929

Missing War Memorials in Ulster – Where are they?

Missing War Memorials in Ulster – Where are they?

History Hub Ulster researcher Nigel Henderson has identified the following war memorials as ‘missing or lost’ in Ulster.

History Hub Ulster has set up this Facebook page to maintain a record of these memorials.

 
Purple Star of Ulster LOL 1894
Installed in Clifton Street Orange Hall
Form: Tablet,  Unveiled/Dedicated: August 1927, Newspaper image:  Yes
 
Balmoral Methodist Church 
Form: Tablet, Unveiled/Dedicated: January 1920, Newspaper image:  Yes
 
College Square Presbyterian Church 
Form: Organ & Tablet, Unveiled/Dedicated: November 1920, Newspaper image:  No
 
Donegall Square Methodist Church 
Form: Tablet, Unveiled/Dedicated: October 1921, Newspaper image:  No
 
Donegall Square Methodist Church – Sunday School 
Form: Tablet, Unveiled/Dedicated: July 1919, Newspaper image:  No
 
Duncairn Mission Hall, New Lodge Road 
Form: Clock, Unveiled/Dedicated: November 1919, Newspaper image:  No
 
Falls Road Methodist Church 
Form: Tablet, Unveiled/Dedicated: Not Known, Newspaper image:  No
 
Mervue Street Mission Hall 
Form: Reading Desk, Unveiled/Dedicated: September 1920, Newspaper image:  Yes
 
Nelson Memorial Presbyterian Church 
Form: Window, Unveiled/Dedicated: November 1946, Newspaper image:  No
 
Presbyterian Ministers 
Form: Tablet, Unveiled/Dedicated: June 1921, Newspaper image:  No
 
St John’s Church of Ireland, Laganbank 
Form: Window, Unveiled/Dedicated: July 1919, Newspaper image:  Yes
 
“Our Boys Hall”, Manor Street 
Form: Parchment Roll, Unveiled/Dedicated: May 1920, Newspaper image:  Partial
 
Belfast Boy Scouts (10th Company) Cradle Roll 
Form: Tablet, Unveiled/Dedicated: April 1919, Newspaper image:  Yes
 
Belfast Boy Scouts (10th Company) 
Form: Tablet, Unveiled/Dedicated: February 1927, Newspaper image:  No
 
Belfast YMCA 
Form: Window, Unveiled/Dedicated: September 1949, Newspaper image:  No
 
Central Presbyterian Association (First World War) 
Form: Tablet, Unveiled/Dedicated: November 1923, Newspaper image:  No
 
Central Presbyterian Association (Second World War) 
Form: Tablet, Unveiled/Dedicated: November 1949, Newspaper image:  Yes
 
Cliftonville Cricket & Lawn Tennis 
Form: Tablet, Unveiled/Dedicated: March 1927, Newspaper image:  Yes
 
Londonderry Presbyterian Working Men’s Institute 
Form: Tablet, Unveiled/Dedicated: July 1924, Newspaper image:  No
 
Ulster Amateur Flute Band 
Form: Tablet, Unveiled/Dedicated: February 1922, Newspaper image:  Yes
 
Ulsterville Harriers 
Form: Tablet, Unveiled/Dedicated: May 1918, Newspaper image:  Yes
 
Belfast Co-Operative Society 
Form: Tablet, Unveiled/Dedicated: November 1958, Newspaper image:  No
 
Cinnamond, Park & Company 
Form: Tablet, Unveiled/Dedicated: October 1920, Newspaper image:  No
 
Dunville & Company Roll of Honour 
Form: Parchment Roll, Unveiled/Dedicated: March 1921, Newspaper image:  No
 
Gallaher’s Factory, Belfast 
Form: Tablet, Unveiled/Dedicated: June 1948, Newspaper image:  No
 
General Post Office (Royal Avenue, Belfast ) 
Form: Tablet, Unveiled/Dedicated: November 1925, Newspaper image:  Partial
 
Glen Printing & Finishing Company (Newtownards) 
Form: Parchment Roll, Unveiled/Dedicated: December 1917, Newspaper image:  Yes
 
North East Bar 
Form: Tablet, Unveiled/Dedicated: March 1920, Newspaper image:  Yes
 
Bridgett, William Henry, Sergeant, Royal Irish Rifles 
Form: RBP Banner, Unveiled/Dedicated: June 1923, Newspaper image:  Yes
 
Jamison Brothers of Hydepark 
Form: Tablet, Unveiled/Dedicated: August 1917, Newspaper image:  No
 
McClean, Hugh, Farrier, Army Service Corps (Location not known) 
Form: Statue, Unveiled/Dedicated: February 1927, Newspaper image:  Yes
 
McMaster, Charles, Captain, Royal Irish Rifle (Location not known) 
Form: JLOL Banner, Unveiled/Dedicated: October 1926, Newspaper image:  Yes
 
Pollock, Paul Gilchrist, Lance-Corporal, Royal Irish Rifles 
Form: Toc H Lamp, Unveiled/Dedicated: January 1933, Newspaper image:  No
 
Antrim Road National School 
Form: Window, Unveiled/Dedicated: September 1920, Newspaper image:  No
 
Malone Training School 
Form: Tablet, Unveiled/Dedicated: July 1920, Newspaper image:  No
 
Albion Limited – First World War
Form: Parchment Roll of Honour
 
Albion Limited – Second World War
Form: Parchment Roll of Honour
 
 

 

Albert Street Presbyterian Church – War Memorial Plaque Found

On 2nd November 1919, Albert Street Presbyterian Church was formally re-opened after an extensive scheme of renovation. The re-opening service was also the occasion when a brass war memorial plaque, made by David Mairs of Great Victoria Street, was dedicated. A total of 208 men from the congregation enlisted for service in the Great War, of whom 34 died. The names of the fatalities were engraved on the plaque. In 1919, plans were already underway to install a new organ as part of the congregation’s war memorial. The war memorial organ was dedicated on 3rd April 1921. The Rev. Dr. Henry Montgomery of the Shankill Road Mission, and formerly Minister of the Albert Street Church, conducted the service and dedicated the memorial.

Albert Street Presbyterian Church - Great War Memorial Plaque.jThe local newspapers reported that “Rev. Montgomery said many of the men whose names were on the memorial plaque had been baptised by him. All of them had gallantly responded to the call of duty, and that was one of the noblest testimonies that could be offered to their patriotism as well as their Christianity. In that respect they were unlike the young men of England. Scotland, and Wales, who in the middle stages of the war were obliged to serve in His Majesty’s forces whether they liked to do so or not. The young men of that congregation, and of Ulster generally, answered the call from within when they knew the motherland was in peril, and indeed not they alone, but Ulstermen all over the world—in Canada, the United States of America, and Australia. The same blood flowed in all their hearts, and there was the same desire on the part of all to stand for their country and their Empire.” (Northern Whig, 3rd November 1919).

The Presbyterian congregation was first launched in Conway Street National School in 1852 to meet the spiritual need of people living on the lower portion of the Falls Road and the district between the Falls and Shankill roads. The original building was opened in 1854 but the rapid growth of the congregation necessitated the erection of larger premises thirty years later, on the same site on the corner with Raglan Street. The congregation later established the Shankill Road Mission.

In 1970, due to demographic changes (partially due to the “troubles”) resulting in a fall in the size of the congregation, and the redevelopment plans for the Lower Falls area, the decision was taken to merge with the nearby congregation at Argyll Place Presbyterian Church on the Shankill Road. The final services in the Albert Street church were held on Sunday 31st January 1971 and led by the Reverend Brian Moore. On 7th February 1971, the first services were held in the Shankill Road premises of the newly named West Kirk Presbyterian Church. When the congregation moved, the war memorial plaque was not transferred to West Kirk.

History Hub Ulster’s researcher, Nigel Henderson, takes up the story. “I have been researching Belfast Presbyterians in the Great War and had been advised that this memorial had been lost in a fire at the old premises in the 1970s”, he said, “however, on 28th July, a militaria collector called Mark Ramsey asked to meet me as he had “unearthed something”. I was intrigued but when he opened the boot of his car and showed me the brass memorial plaque, I was astounded.” Nigel continued, “Many memorials and rolls of honour for the Great War were lost during the German air raids of 1941. Others were lost in fires. However, there are numerous memorial plaques and parchment rolls of honour whose current locations are not known to me. Many of these were in church buildings whose congregations have folded or merged with other congregations. Some that spring to mind are the memorials for College Square Presbyterian Church, Balmoral Methodist Church and Donegall Square Methodist Church. There are also memorials that are “missing” for commercial concerns, for example Dunville the whiskey manufacturers and Gallaher’s of York Street. I would love to have the opportunity to photograph these memorials.”

Five sons of William Nugent and Sarah Nugent (nee McFerran) of Percy Street enlisted for military service in the Great War. Three were to survive but two lost their lives and are commemorated on this memorial plaque.

James Nugent was born on 19th May 1897 at Westmoreland Street and enlisted with the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. He was posted to the 2nd Battalion, which had been deployed to France in August 1914, and joined the battalion in the field on 19th December 1914. He was killed in action on 16th May 1915 during the Battle of Festubert in the Artois region in France. He died just three days before his 18th birthday and has no known grave. Private James Nugent is commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial in France.

Robert McFerran Nugent was born on 4th October 1892 at Westmoreland Street and enlisted with the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in 1909 and served in China. In 1911, he was stationed at Mandora Barracks in Aldershot in 1911. He was a shipyard worker at Queen’s Island when he was recalled from the army reserve. He was posted to the 1st Battalion, which had been stationed in India in August 1914, and participated in the landings at Y Beach on the Gallipoli Peninsula on 25th April 1915. His battalion was transferred to the Western Front with the 29th Division and was positioned on the Ulster Division’s left flank in the attack on 1st July 1916. Robert Nugent was wounded at the Somme in 1916 and was seriously wounded at Carnoy on 29th January 1917. Private Robert Nugent died of his wounds at No 9 General Hospital Rouen on 15th February 1917. He was 24 years old and is buried in the St. Sever Cemetery in Rouen and is commemorated on the Harland and Wolff memorial for the Queen’s Island shipyard. In his army will, Robert Nugent designated his mother as his next-of-kin.

Sarah Nugent received a dependant’s pension of ten shillings per week for the loss of two of her sons. In current terms that would equate to £25 per week. Sarah also received war gratuities totalling fifteen pounds and ten shillings in late 1919, the equivalent of approximately £1,000 in current terms. By a quirk of fate, a son-in-law of William and Sarah Nugent died at Percy Street during the German air raids of 1941. Samuel Stewart McComb Elliott (21) married Sarah Nugent (23) on 23rd October 1929 at St Johns Church of Ireland, Laganbank. He was 32 years old when he died and was buried in a marked coffin in the Reserved Ground at Belfast City Cemetery on 21st April 1941.

In 2015, Michael James Nugent, a great nephew of James and Robert Nugent and an Associate Member of History Hub Ulster, published a book about the Battle of Festubert entitled, “It was an awful Sunday”.  In expressing his thoughts about the discovery of the memorial plaque, Michael said, “This means a lot to me. I hope the plaque regains a prominent position so that the sacrifice of my Great Uncles is always remembered.” Nigel Henderson stated that he hopes that the memorial plaque for the Albert Street Presbyterian congregation can find a new home in West Kirk Presbyterian Church.

Gavin Bamford, Chair of History Hub Ulster, commented, “The Ulster War Memorials book that History Hub Ulster published in 2018 included a chapter on lost or missing war memorials. As a research-based group, we are interested in locating these memorials and photographing them for posterity. Some of them might be in museum storage areas and some, like the Albert Street Presbyterian Church plaque, might be lying in a loft or tucked away in a cupboard on church premises.”

A list of memorials and rolls of honour that we know existed but whose whereabouts are not known can be found here. This is not an exhaustive list and will be amended as further information comes to light. If anyone knows of a war memorial plaque or a parchment Roll of Honour that is not in the public domain, we would be interested in knowing the details. Please contact us via email or on facebook.