Sheila the Belfast Blitz Elephant

Sheila the Belfast Blitz Elephant

Researched and written by Nigel Henderson

An elephant arrived at Bellevue Zoo in 1938 and was given the name Sheila by Sheila Williamson. Also in the newspaper image is Gordon McNutt who was helping Keeper Higgins in the elephant enclosure when he was injured by Sheila in 1940.

After the German air raid on the night of 15th/16th April 1941, Antrim Road residents raised concerns that dangerous animals might escape during air raids. The account in Scott Edgar’s WartimeNI records that authorisation was given on 19th April for the killing of zoo animals.

Around the same time, Denise Weston Austin, a keeper at the zoo, started to take Sheila to her home in the evenings, returning her to the zoo in the mornings. Some accounts say that she did so to protect the elephant from being shot (which does not make much sense) and others that she was protecting the elephant from being injured/killed in the German air (which also does not make much sense as her home was not far from the zoo and Whitewell Road was bombed!).

The Zoo authorities only became aware of Sheila’s nightly forays when a neighbour of the Austin family complained that the elephant had broken a boundary fence and trampled his garden whilst chasing his dog. It is not know how often Denise took the elephant home with her – it might have been only for a few nights, it might have been for a few weeks.

So far, so good, a nice heart-warming story.

However, recent articles in newspapers and on websites (including the Belfast Zoo website) record that Sheila lived for a further 25 years. Is this true? I do not think so and here is why.

In March 1961, the Belfast News-Letter ran a full page on recollections of the Belfast Blitz, including those of Alex McClean, curator of the zoo and veterinary officer for Belfast Corporation. He is on record as saying that he and Dick Foster, head zoo keeper, decided to carry of the cull of the animals on 4th May 1941. By the time he arrived at the zoo with a .303 rifle, dusk was setting and they decided to carry out the cull the following day.

Of course, this was the night of the second big air raid on Belfast. Having shot the other dangerous animals, Alex and Dick found Sheila dead in her enclosure. Of course, it is possible that Alex McClean’s memory was playing him false, so I dug a bit deeper.

In 1948, Belfast Zoo received a new elephant which was named … Sheila!

Belfast News-Letter, 5th October 1948

On 22nd October 1965 , the Belfast News-Letter carried a report that Sheila the Elephant, who had been at the zoo for 17 years (i.e. from 1948), was ill and would be put to sleep in the winter months. 

In essence, when articles were compiled this century, the researchers knew there was an elephant called Sheila at the zoo in 1938 and that an elephant called Sheila died at the zoo in 1965. Unfortunately, they made the assumption that the elephant that died in 1965 was the elephant who had arrived in 1938.

#NeverAssume #AlwaysCheck #GoTheExtraMile

Albert Bridge, Belfast – Collapse on 15th September 1886

By Gavin Bamford, History Hub Ulster

History

A previous bridge on this site was a privately owned five span masonry bridge which was built in 1831. It was officially called Lagan Bridge, although it was known as Halfpenny Bridge due to the toll charged. It was subsequently renamed to Albert Bridge after Queen Victoria’s husband. In 1860 it was acquired by the Belfast Corporation, which abolished the toll. 

Imminent Collapse

The Belfast Corporation Improvement Committee (note 1) met on 8th September 1886:

Albert Bridge – The Surveyor reported that in consequence of the Albert Bridge having shown signs of subsidence and fracture, observations were being taken to determine whether any danger is likely to occur to the public.

The Witness (Belfast) newspaper of 10th September 1886 reported in their local and provincial news column that:

It is stated that the Albert Bridge is sinking, and that it is consequently becoming dangerous for heavy traffic. We understand that the Town Council officials are engaged in examining it.

The Belfast Corporation Improvement Committee met again on 15th September 1886: 

Albert Bridge, closing of vehicular traffic etc – The Surveyor reported that he considered the Albert Bridge to be in a dangerous state and the Mayor (note 2) who had examined the bridge with him concurred. Resolution: that the bridge be closed to vehicular but not foot traffic and the Surveyor be instructed to put for the guidance of boatmen a notice on each arch the word ‘dangerous’ and to take the necessary steps for shoring up and placing centering under the dangerous arches.

Collapse

The bridge must have collapsed shortly after the Improvement Committee meeting (mentioned above).

The Ulster Echo newspaper of 16th September 1886 reported:

The Catastrophe at the Albert Bridge, Recovery of Bodies, Later Particulars – …. The lamentable catastrophe which occurred at the Albert Bridge last night, when the central arch fell, involving the loss of a number of lives, and inflicting injury upon others. 

Thankfully, there was only one death in this horrific incident.

Death

John Matthews, 64, night-watchman, married, died on 15th September 1886 at Albert Bridge. His body had been recovered from the bed of the river at 5 o’clock on the morning of 16th September 1886.

An inquest was held later that day with R F Dill M.D., Coroner for the Borough of Belfast presiding. 

The Ulster Echo newspaper of 16th September 1886 reported:

James Callaghan, residing in George’s Court East, Lagan Village, stated that he was passing along the bridge from Ballymacarrett in the direction of the town about twenty minutes to eight along with Mrs Maguire (now in hospital). Witness saw a watchman on the bridge; and immediately after he passed him he heard a crash. Witness looked around and saw that the woman Maguire (note 3) had fallen into the chasm created by the breaking of the bridge. The watchman had also disappeared.

The cause of Matthews’ death was found to be “Homicidal injuries. Death instantaneous”. This information was included in the death registration made on 17th September 1886. 

Aftermath

The Belfast Corporation Improvement Committee met again on 17th September 1886:

Albert Bridge (Collapse) – The Surveyor reported the action he had taken from the first time his attention had been attracted to the condition of the bridge till its collapse. Moved by Alderman Dixon. Seconded by Councillor Jenkins.

Temporary Wooden Bridge – Specification for the erection of a temporary wooden bridge over the Lagan as a present substitute for the Albert Bridge until arrangements can be made, either for the repair of the old one or the erection of a new Bridge; the width of the temporary Bridge to be 30 feet including an eight foot footpath and that advertisements be published inviting tenders for doing the work before the 1st January; and that the Improvement Committee be instructed to take charge of the matter; also to report to the Council as to whether the old Bridge can or should be repaired or a new one erected.

The Belfast News Letter of 20th September 1886 reported:

There is nothing new in connection with the collapse …. no additional fatalities …. no enquiries have been made for persons missing.

 

Parliament

The bridge collapse was later raised in Parliament where Hansard records:

21st September 1886 vol 309 cc1113-4 1113 

  1. SEXTON (Belfast, W., and Sligo, S.) 

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, whether any lives have been lost through the collapse of the Albert Bridge, Belfast, on Wednesday evening last; whether the bridge was thronged at the time of the accident; whether it is true, as reported, that a gradual sinking of the structure had been observed for the past two or three weeks; whether the Town Council is responsible for having allowed the continuance of a thoroughfare across the bridge weeks after its collapsing condition became apparent; and, how soon an official inquiry will be held? 

THE CHIEF SECRETARY (SIR MICHAEL HICKS-BEACH) (Bristol, W.) 

So far as is known one life was lost through this accident. Fortunately, it is not a fact that the bridge was thronged at the time. It is, I understand, true that a gradual sinking had previously been observed; but the immediate collapse of the bridge was not apprehended. I am advised that the question of responsibility is one of law, which must be decided in a Court of Justice, if raised. I am not aware that there is any obligation on the Government to institute an official inquiry; but I shall look further into this matter.”

New Bridge

This new bridge, of granite with three cast-iron arches was designed by Mr J. C. Bretland, the Borough Surveyor of Belfast at the time, and was constructed by Messrs Henry of Belfast on behalf of Belfast Corporation, at a cost of £36,500 was built in 1888/90. All of the cast iron including the decorative lampposts were made in Derby by Andrew Handyside & Co. It was opened in 1890 and the name Albert Bridge was kept, but now in honour of Queen Victoria’s grandson, Prince Albert Victor, who had laid a foundation stone in 1889.

Notes

(1) The author was given the minutes book of the Belfast Corporation Improvement Committee for the period from 20th August 1884 to 21st March 1888. It had been found in a skip.

(2) Sir Edward Harland Bt, Mayor 1885 to 1888.

(3) The Northern Whig of 23rd August 1916 reported on a court case:

An old woman, named Bridget Maguire was charged with an assault. The prosecutor advised the court that the prisoner was nearly lost in the Albert Bridge disaster in 1886, being rescued by police from the debris floating in the Lagan after much difficulty.

Belfast Blitz Plaques

Belfast Blitz Plaques

Following the 75th Anniversary of the 1941 German air raids on Northern Ireland, Belfast City Council erected a number of memorial plaques at various locations in the city. The phrasing of the inscriptions on all but three of the plaques refers to “lives lost here” but it is unclear whether it refers literally to fatalities at the location/street, the number of people who lived in the location/street who died, the number of people from the area near the location who died, or a mixture of the circumstances.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) website includes a Civilian War Dead section which lists the place of death and the place of residence for fatalities, the information having been collated from the Civil Defence Authority fatality lists and other sources. The anomalies between the figures specified on the Belfast City Council plaques and the CWGC Civilian War Dead List (henceforth CWGC List) will be examined in this article.

1 Temporary Mortuaries

The first plaque was erected at St George’s Market, which was used as a temporary mortuary following the air raids and was the centralised location for the identification of bodies. On 21st April and 9th May, funeral corteges left St George’s Market, with unidentified and identified but unclaimed bodies being interred in publicly-owned plots in Belfast City Cemetery and Milltown Cemetery.

Plaques were also erected to mark the use of the Peter’s Hill Baths and the Falls Road Baths as temporary mortuaries, but no arrangements were made to erect a similar plaque at the temporary mortuary at Erskine’s Felt Works in Whitehouse.

2 Campbell College

Campbell College was taken over by the military authorities as the 24th (London) General Hospital shortly after the start of the Second World War and was hit on the night of 4th/5th May 1941. The Blitz Victims List compiled by the Northern Ireland War Memorial records that 24 people died at the hospital, including one civilian fatality. Of the 23 army personnel killed, nine are buried in Northern Ireland and the remainder were repatriated to Great Britain for interment. The civilian was Mary Jane Close (58) who was injured at her home in Westbourne Street and died at the hospital and is buried in Dundonald Cemetery.

3 Pottinger – Ravenscroft Avenue

The CWGC List records Ravenscroft Avenue as the death location for only five people, including four members of the Frizzell family from Number 39 and Thomas Crone Bingham, a sixteen-year-old ARP volunteer from Isoline Street. However, a further sixteen people died in the Ravenscroft Avenue area. Fifteen lives were lost at Avondale Street, including six members of the McCullough family at Number 8. Another sixteen-year-old ARP volunteer, William James Mays from Lichfield Avenue, died at Rosebery Street. Consequently, the German bombing of the Ravencroft Avenue area resulted in the deaths of 21 people but only five died at Ravenscroft Avenue. Ravenscroft Public Elementary School was destroyed, and 47 houses were either destroyed or left uninhabitable. 

4 Mountpottinger – Thorndyke Street

On the night of 15th/16th April, a 250kg bomb exploded near the air raid shelter, causing the walls to buckle and the concrete roof fell on the people inside. The CWGC List records that seventeen people died in Thorndyke Street, nine at the air raid shelter. Thirteen of the fatalities were residents of the street, including six members of the Wherry family from Number 16. Four of the Thorndyke Street fatalities resided elsewhere – ARP Warden Joseph Bell (45) of Lord Street, ARP Messenger Phares Hill Welsh (16) of Paxton Road, William Stewart (55) of Lord Street, and William Murray (30) of Cherryville Street. Another resident of Thorndyke Street, Sarah Hughes (62), died at the Royal Victoria Hospital and Andrew McAdams (75) died in nearby Dufferin Street. The bomb that exploded at Thorndyke Street resulted in the deaths of nineteen people.

5 Sandy Row – Blythe Street

The only Blitz Plaque in South Belfast is attached to an outer wall of St Aidan’s Church of Ireland and records that thirteen lives were lost at Blythe Street, which matches the details on the CWGC List. Fourteen people who lived in Blythe Street died as a result of the air raid, including a father and daughter who were injured at Blythe Street, died at the Belfast Union Infirmary, and are buried in Ballynure Cemetery – Rebecca Craig (7) died on 16th April and Robert Craig (36) died two days later. Nine people died at 95 Blythe Street, the home of William and Jane McKee, who lost a son, two married daughters, and five grandchildren. David McKee (26) was an Engineer in the Merchant Navy and Sarah Jane (Sadie) Thompson (21) from 313 Donegall Road, was visiting the family when she died. 

6 Yorkgate – Sussex Street and Vere Street

Although the York Street Flax Spinning Mill took a direct hit, no fatalities are recorded as dying at the mill. However, the falling masonry from the mill and other bombs brought death and destruction to the close-packed streets of housing between the mill and Gallaher’s tobacco factory at Earl Street. In 1939, there were 260 residential properties in the area but there were only 128 houses after 1941. In addition, York Street Presbyterian Church on the corner of Earl Street and York Street Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church were destroyed. The CWGC List records that thirty-four people died in either Sussex Street or Vere Street, with twenty-nine being residents and the other five being from Pilot Street, New Lodge Road, Chatham Street, Artillery Street, or Orchard Street. Mary McSourley (12) of 74 Vere Street died at the Mater Hospital and the Civil Defence Authority’s 9th List (dated 21st April 1941) records Kathleen Malone of 31 Sussex Street as a fatality but she is not recorded on the CWGC list or on the NIWM Blitz Victims List. Lance Corporal John Thomas Park and Corporal David Cooper Simpson from 507th Field Company, Royal Engineers, died at the junction of Henry Street and North Queen Street during the May air raids. The death toll for the area was 38 and not 40 as recorded on the plaque.

7 Tiger’s Bay – Hogarth Street

Unlike other locations where the Belfast City Council plaques specify exact numbers, the plaque at Hogarth Street records “up to 80 lives lost here”. The CWGC List records that 69 civilians died at Hogarth Street and nine died at Edlingham Street, including eight people from other streets. A memorial at Hogarth Street, since removed after being vandalised, recorded the names of 117 fatalities from the Tiger’s Bay area. The CWGC List records that 71 residents of Hogarth Street and Edlingham Street died, with six-year-old Jean Spratt dying of injuries at Belfast City Hospital. Six members of the Wilson family died at 56 Edlingham Street and five people living at 65 Hogarth Street died, including two women from Glasgow. Hugh Baxter McNeill had died on 3rd March 1941, aged 49, and his widow Annie Lorna McNeill (nee Dornan) died on the night of 15th/16th April at the age of 46, along with her children, Hetty (23) and Hugh Baxter McNeill (19). Also at the house were her mother and sister – Harriett Dornan (69) and Cissy (30) – whose home address was in Glasgow. It is possible that William John Dornan sent his family back to Belfast as it was deemed to be safer than Glasgow. 

8 New Lodge – Sheridan Street

Two plaques relating to lives lost at two streets which no longer exist were placed at Sheridan Street. The CWGC List records that eleven civilians died at Burke Street, with the twelfth fatality being Stoker 1st Class Henry Brown (51) who was serving on HMS Caroline and died at 18 Burke Street with his mother, his wife, and his daughter – Mary Jane (89), Georgina (50), and Georgina (18). Thomas Mason (33), who was injured at his home in Burke Street and died at the Mater Hospital, is not included on the plaque. The CWGC List records that 18 people who lived in Annadale Street died at their homes, including Ernest William Riecken (65), the only German-born fatality of the air raids, and his wife, Mary Louisa (66) from Number 6.

9 New Lodge – Victoria Barracks

The only Blitz plaque that relates exclusively to military fatalities was placed on the gable wall of the terrace of houses called Victoria Barracks on Carlisle Parade. These houses were built in the 1930s as married quarters for the Victoria Barracks and the first house in the terrace was destroyed during the air raid on the night of 15th/16th April and was never replaced. The NIWM Blitz Victims list records that five men from 9th Battalion East Surrey Regiment died at Victoria Barracks. Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Douglas Sutcliffe (50), Second Lieutenant Edward William Cobble (40), and Corporal John William Oliver Mason (29) died on 16th April. Private Denis Patrick James Cuffe (20), and Private Albert Joseph Skinner (20) died on 5th May.  Second Lieutenant Cobble, who died whilst being transferred to Musgrave Park Hospital, is the only one of the five fatalities to be buried in Belfast, the bodies of the other four men being repatriated to Great Britain for burial. 

10 Donegall Street – St Patrick’s Church

This is the only Belfast City Council Blitz plaque that had been placed inside a church in Belfast and records “130 lives lost here”.  This is not true as there were no fatalities recorded for Donegall Street and St Patrick’s Church was not one of the churches to be badly damaged or destroyed in the air raids. The specified fatality figure could refer to the number of parishioners of the church who died. Alternatively, it could refer to the number of fatalities from the parish area who died, which would include people who were not Roman Catholics.

11 Carrick Hill – Unity Street and Trinity Street

Two Blitz plaques have been erected on the outer wall of the Carrick Hill Community Centre, which was built on the site of the former Trinity Street Reformed (Covenanting) Presbyterian Church. There were no military fatalities recorded for the Carrick Hill area.

The Unity Street area was devastated when a parachute mine struck the spire of Holy Trinity Church of Ireland, which was located on Unity Street and faced down Trinity Street. The CWGC List records that 34 people died at Unity Street, with another person dying at Wall Street, which was immediately behind the church. The CWGC List records that 28 residents of the street died, with John McAnespie (19) dying of injuries at the Mater Hospital. As many of the houses on Unity Street and Wall Street were subsequently demolished and Holy Trinity Church was not rebuilt, the council built the Stanhope Street Playground on bomb site in 1954.

The fatality figure recorded for “Trinity Street Church” does not stand up to scrutiny as the only person recorded as dying at Trinity Street was Kathleen Duff (16) from Hanover Street who was a Typist at ARP Post 396 and was killed by falling masonry. Six other volunteers at ARP Post 396 died at Unity Street. The only resident of Trinity Street recorded as a fatality was Katherine Muldoon (32) from Number 20 who died in Unity Street and is buried in the graveyard at St Joseph’s Church, Hannahstown.

In an oral account, an ARP Warden refers to the spire of “Trinity Street Church” being hit by a parachute mine but Trinity Street Reformed Presbyterian Church did not have a spire – it was Holy Trinity Church of Ireland that was hit. In effect, the “Trinity Street Church” fatality figure relates to people who died in Unity Street and demonstrates the danger of relying on oral accounts without cross-checking against historic documents and sources.

12 The Bone – Ballynure Street

The CWGC List and the NIWM List both record that 29 people died at Ballynure Street, with 26 of the fatalities being residents of the street, and there is no record of any military fatalities. Eleven people died at 4 Ballynure Street, including three members of the Thompson family from 3 Lee Street. Jeremiah and Lavinia Clarke (both 51) and six children ranging in age from 10 to 26 died along with their married daughter, Unice Thompson (19), their son-in-law, John Thompson (21), and their granddaughter, Joan Thompson (2). Only four of the eleven fatalities were identified, with the deaths of the others being presumed at a Coroner’s Enquiry on 14th June 1941. John Thompson is buried in Belfast City Cemetery and Lavinia Clarke is buried in Carnmoney Cemetery. William Clarke (15) and Cecil Clarke (12) were buried in marked coffins in the Blitz Ground at Belfast City Cemetery on 21st April 1941. Robert Clarke (26) was involved in war work at the Short & Harland aircraft factory. In total, 34 people living in the “Bally” streets in this part of Belfast died during the air raids.

13 Woodvale – Ohio Street and Heather Street

Two identical plaques were erected one at the Welcome Evangelical Church on Heather Street and one at the junction of Ohio Street and Disraeli Street. The CWGC List records that 40 people died at Heather Street, with 37 of the fatalities being residents and the two being from nearby Disraeli Street and Montreal Street. ARP Warden James Henry Robinson (29) from Donaldson Crescent off Twaddell Avenue. The CWGC List records that 25 people died at Ohio, with 22 of the fatalities being residents of the street – two of the fatalities lived in nearby Columbia Street and one lived in Glencairn Crescent off the Ballygomartin Road. The CWGC List records that 72 people died at Heather Street, Ohio Street, and the streets with which they intersect, and that 73 residents of the same area died, three of the latter dying of injuries at hospital.

14 Shankill – Percy Street

The Blitz Plaque erected for Percy Street is another which records an approximate fatalities figure. The CWGC List records that 37 people died at Percy Street, ten of whom were not residents of the street. The CWGC List records that 29 residents of Percy Street died in the air raids, with Frederick Owens (41) dying of injuries at the Royal Victoria Hospital. One resident of Percy Street died in the first German air raid on the night of 7th/8th April. Archibald McDonald (22) from 80 Percy Street was a volunteer with the Auxiliary Fire Service and he died fighting the fire at the McCue Dick Timber Yard on Duncrue Street and is buried in Dundonald Cemetery. Four people injured at Percy Street died at the Royal Victoria Hospital, including Thomas Harvey (38) of 12 Tyne Street who died on 8th May 1941 and was buried in Belfast City Cemetery two days later. Ten people died at the Percy Street Air Raid Shelter, including two Able Seaman of the Royal Navy. George James Henry Saunders (21) from Brighton in Sussex was a crewman on HMS Skate which was moored in Belfast Harbour and is buried in a military plot at Belfast City Cemetery. Samuel Corry (26) of Joseph Street in Belfast was on home leave from HMS Quebec and died with his wife, Martha Mary (27) and their ten-month old daughter, Elizabeth. They are buried in a family plot in Belfast City Cemetery.

Conclusion

The fatality figures recorded on the BCC Blitz Plaques rarely tie in with the fatalities recorded by CWGC and NIWM but, as no names are available relating the BCC plaques, it is not possible to reconcile the figures. When I was in contact with BCC about the plaques may years ago, I was told that the council had just been given the figures. The person whose role covered the erection of the plaques moved to a new role and contact with Belfast City Council lapsed. Several plaques (e.g. Antrim Road and Greencastle) were not, as far as I am aware, ever erected. “With hindsight, it would have been better if the plaque figures had represented a combination of fatalities at each location and fatalities who lived at each location. It would also have been better if all the plaques had used “up to nn lives lost” rather than specifying an exact figure.  A Freedom of Information Request has been lodged with Belfast City Council seeking details of how the figures quoted on the plaques were determined.

Author: Nigel Henderson, Researcher, History Hub Ulster

Time Travel – Connecting a vintage dress label to a Belfast company and family

James Lindsay and Co, Belfast

A query recently came into History Hub Ulster from a Bangor lady, Amanda Allaway who has a personal Facebook blog ‘aetherealart’.

Amanda wrote in her blog:

I have a little piece of history that lives in my loft – she was made in the late 1800s I think by a tailors called James Lindsay in the Ulster Arcade in Belfast. I believe this is mourning dress. Unfortunately, the silk facings holding the corset boning together are disintegrating rapidly but sometime soon I will try and restore her for posterity. I rescued her from a wardrobe clear out from a drama group many years ago and she had been tweaked and remade several times but she remains elegant and beautiful”.

and followed it up with a request to History Hub Ulster:

I wonder can anyone help me with some research pointers for this dress – it carries the label James Lindsay &Co Ulster Arcade which I believe is the Lindsay Brothers – Thomas Lindsay, Mayor of Belfast in 1875? I know they were textile merchants (and very successful too) but I don’t know if they actually produced/commissioned clothing? Any info about the company very welcome”.

History Hub Ulster researcher, Richard Graham takes up the story:

James LindsayJames Lindsay and Co was established at 18 Donegall Place, Belfast c 1860. The Lindsay family first came to Ireland from Scotland in 1678, with their descendants moving to Belfast in 1822, opening a “woollen, linen and haberdashery warehouse” trading as J & D Lindsay on Bridge Street. The business prospered and John and David Lindsay brought into the partnership their three younger brothers, one of whom was James Lindsay after which the business at 18 Donegall Place was named.

James LindsayJames Lindsay & Co was part of a much larger family business which traded under the name Lindsay Brothers. They first began manufacturing muslin in the early 1800s, but expanded the business to include the spinning of flax at two large mills (the Mulhouse Works and Prospect mills) and all associated processes involved in the rapidly developing linen industry. These goods were exported all over the world from their warehouse at 7-9 Donegall Place (see pic). This building still stands as the Disney Store today.

Meanwhile one of the brothers, James, developed a retail side to the business at 18 Donegall Place. The building erected in 1858, held some of the finest stock in Belfast, as can be seen by the attached advertisement of 1861. Although it had many departments, it was not a department store per sae – that concept didn’t become popular until the 1910s. It was more of a Victorian fashion emporium and traded as “The Ulster Arcade”.

The business continued to prosper for the next 80 years, and allowed James to reside at a large house and estate called “Wheatfield” at Ballysillan, North Belfast. The business concentrated on products of Irish Manufacture, and they were soon joined by other worldwide concerns such as Robinson & Cleaver which opened their Royal Irish Linen Warehouse two doors up on Donegall Place in 1888 – the year Queen Victoria granted Belfast it’s charter as a city. Here James Lindsay’s premises can be seen during the Edwardian period in 1910.

Although Lindsay Brothers were one of the largest manufacturers of linen products in Ireland – they also produced muslin, cambric and linen handkerchiefs at their Victoria Street premises which were sold at Donegall Place. My feeling is that the dress in your possession may have been imported for retail sale to the ladies of Victorian Belfast, as the range of products included fabrics and finished products from around Europe. I cannot find definitive proof that they actually commissioned or manufactured such detailed work, as the warehouse was very much focused on retail.

In 1920, James Lindsay retired to his villa in Cannes in the South of France, which was named “Lisnacrieve” after the family seat in Co Tyrone. The business was taken over by Thomas Brand, a young entrepreneur who also developed a chain of fashion stores in Belfast City Centre. Brands continued to trade as “The Ulster Arcade – successors to James Lindsay” at 18 Donegall Place until Easter 1941, when during the Blitz of Belfast by German bombers in the Second World War, the premises were completely destroyed, and the name of James Lindsay ceased to exist. Brands went on to form Brand’s Arcade (opposite) and then Brands and Normans on Castle Lane – one of the city’s leading fashion and department stores.

Bringing the story up to date, the site of the Ulster Arcade was later developed (in 1950) as the first branch of C&A in Northern Ireland! They were of course part of the new breed of department store (such as Littlewoods and M&S) which would take over from older stores such as James Lindsay, which dominated the market in Victoria and Edwardian times. Lindsay Brothers continued to trade until the 1960s, when with the decline of linen, they sold to Courtaulds, one of the new synthetic fibre manufacturers to arrive in NI in the 1960s.

When the building was destroyed, Thomas Brand merged with Norman & Co on Castle Lane to form Brands & Normans. The Brand family also developed Brands Arcade (aka Birdcage Walk) becoming one of the most important fashion houses and retailers in Belfast in the “Swinging Sixties” Sadly that business has now also disappeared from the streets of Belfast, as has C&A, Robinson & Cleaver, Anderson & McAuley and all the other great stores, even up to last month when Debenhams closed down.

Article by Richard Graham, Researcher, History Hub Ulster

Belfast Blitz 80 – Wartime in the Foreign Department

As part of our #BelfastBlitz80 series, we publish an article by the late Ned Dyas, retired manager of the Northern Bank, Foreign Department, Victoria Street, Belfast. ‘Wartime in the Foreign Department’ was first published in the Northern Bank Staff Magazine ‘The Link’ in June 1993. Ned Dyas died on 14th October 2019.

Setting the scene

Northern Bank, Head Office, Victoria Street, Belfast

If you transfer your gaze momentarily to the left of the main door of the old Northern Bank, Head Office in Victoria Street you will see nearest the corner a tall window. This, double glazed and pretty sturdy, was the window to the world of the wartime Foreign Department of the Bank. A second window looked out, as it still does, onto Ulster Street and the building of G. Heyn & Sons Ltd. In the third wall stood a fireplace where a bright, richly burning fire greeted you each morning and the remaining wall was in fact an oak partition separating the room from the Bank’s main waiting room. Apart from the Manager’s large and imposing desk and those for the typists, a high solid desk stretched round two of the windowed walls. The staff either sat on high stools at this desk or more often than not stood and leaned! The high desk was essential to carry and spread the huge ledgers recording the transactions. The old-style telephones with separate earpieces were still in use. I well remember too that one of the cupboards held bundles and bundles of Reichsmark Notes dating from the collapse of the mark in the twenties. This was 1943 – fifty years ago.

Extract from a wartime fire prevention document completed
for Northern Bank, 110 Victoria Street branch.

Fire-watching at Head Office

Belfast had been the subject of its main air attack in 1941 and while our Head Office, like the Belfast, Ulster and National Banks, was very much in the target area being so near the shipyard it escaped any major damage. The other banks were similarly fortunate. A solitary incendiary bomb had left a hole in the floor of the Stationery Store and I remember having to step over this hole to get at our supplies. Fire-watching was at once a chore and a source of much needed extra remuneration as far as ‘juniors’ were concerned, so those of us in digs did as many nights as possible. Pay was at the rate of 3/= (three shillings) per night, in modern terms 15p but in real value more like £5 to-day [1993]. If you were lucky enough to be asked to do an extra night for a Director or Chief Cashier or other senior member of staff you could earn as much as 7/6d for the night. This as you may well imagine was regarded as a plum! When I tell you that our annual starting salary was £100 per annum plus a 16% War Bonus out of which in my case £78 went on digs you will see that the fire-watching shillings were valuable indeed. Many’s a nice-looking girl would not have been asked out without them. You cycled from your digs to the office, arrived for fire-watching about 10 pm, slept the night in the main waiting room or Foreign Department where the beds were assembled and cycled back for breakfast making sure that you would be back in good time for your day’s work. If you were going to arrive late for fire-watching you made a prior arrangement with a fellow watcher to let you in at the side door. Quite often the pulley bell on the great front door would clang out in the darkness to announce a late comer and I can remember on occasions seeing the face of the Albert showing midnight as I made my way down to the side door. We had an almost permanent firewatcher in Mick the porter. You would find him doing his football pools when you arrived in for duty. Almost completely deaf, he was nevertheless bright of eye, beaming smile and a loyal servant of the Bank. His favourite comment when you handed him a letter or parcel for delivery was “Thank you kind Sir, your kindness exceeds your personal beauty by far; your face I may forget but your kindness never.”

Dealing with the U.S. Forces

Northern Bank was first to operate a Foreign Department and was appointed by the Government as its Agent to deal with the U.S. Forces and authorised to deal with all foreign currency notes and coin on behalf of the Bank of England. This resulted not only in all the other Banks clearing their purchases of U.S. Dollar Bills, etc. to us on a weekly basis but also meant that we were in the front line for dealing with the U.S. Forces Finance Officers. Such sights as our Head Office Cash Office packed with U.S. Navy Personnel when a U.S. Cruiser or Destroyer docked in Belfast and the boys needed cash for the weekend were not infrequent. At such times we all became cashiers for an hour or so! On Pay Days when U.S. Finance Officers were drawing sterling cash for their Forces pay the steps on either side to the Main Door at Head Office would be lined by troops with rifles at the ready, all the way indeed from their bullion van in the street below to the very counter inside. There was an unofficial arrangement that the Bank would try to oblige Officers and Men of the Forces who were here for a longer spell and wanted cheques cashed.

Sailors queuing at the Belfast Banking Company, Bangor branch

It was, and probably still is, a very serious offence for U.S. service personnel to issue a dud cheque so the risk was not perhaps regarded as a major one. Nevertheless, we and the other Banks did have occasional trouble with unpaid cheques. I can recall cheques written out on ordinary sheets of paper shaped like a cheque being returned by our Agents not with “Refer to Drawer” or “Insufficient Funds” but with the ultimate answer “No such Bank”.

 

Glimpses of the Daily Routine

To outline the daily routine in the Foreign Department would be a bore but a couple of features I recall may be of interest. We received dozens of cables each day from the States asking us to make payments to individual U.S. Army personnel at Camps all over Northern Ireland and these were domiciled at our local Branches or with another Bank if we hadn’t a Branch in the nearest town. As many as 150-200 “Advices to Beneficiary” were despatched daily to these personnel. How’s that for a postage book! [Editor: every outgoing letter had to be detailed in a hand written ledger]. Not only that but happily the Linen Industry kept its flag flying right through the war. Linen was still in great demand in the U.S.A., Mexico, the Latin American countries, Cuba and the Caribbean Islands and in all the countries of South America. We might have had a dozen Registered Airmail letters a day containing Shipping Documents for Havana, Rio de Janeiro, etc. Despite the risks of war, I cannot recall us losing an original set of Shipping Documents, though duplicate documents were always sent on by surface mail (even more hazardous).

The Bank as a Family

Nostalgia has a habit of painting one’s memories in a rosy glow but I’m sure I’m not mistaken in saying that Banks of those days, not alone ours, were very much large families. And as in all families there were the lighter moments! I could tell you of duets in the Letter Department in the morning interrupted by our Bank Secretary, Hugh Murphy, a man of imposing stature but gentle in manner, asking with a broad smile when the Opera was beginning. Incidentally it was Mr. Murphy’s dictum that if you walked round the Office with a bundle of papers under your arm no one would ever ask you to do anything. To conclude, our small staff of eight or nine in the Foreign Department was kept at full stretch during this time but there was very much a family feel about all we did and to someone like myself (and, if I may include him, John Tunstead) coming from Dublin to Belfast and not knowing a soul it was good to find oneself among so many friends and so soon.

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

Roselawn 2021 – A Guide to Roselawn Cemetery

After mediocre success with books about ‘Belfast City Cemetery’ and then ‘Dundonald Cemetery’, and with books called ‘2020’ (20 graves in each of 20 selected local cemeteries) and ‘A Hundred Houses of East Belfast’ in the pipeline, I decided to spend a fair chunk of lockdown writing another book about a Cemetery! A Guide to Belfast City CemeteryThe Cemetery this time is Roselawn. Until fairly recently, I had only a passing interest in Roselawn (with the exception of the grave of my much-missed maternal grandparents) due to the relative ‘newness’ of the Cemetery, only opening in 1954.

However, whilst researching my ‘A Hundred Houses of East Belfast’ book, I discovered that, amongst the thousands of graves there, not forgetting the thousands of memorial trees in Roselawn too, there are many fascinating headstones with, I think, associated fascinating stories.

A Guide to Dundonald Cemetery

So my daily lockdown exercise when Roselawn was open (obviously, although it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve climbed over a fence to get in / out of a cemetery!) consisted of walking round EVERY! headstone in the cemetery, photographing headstones of interest and then looking in to the story behind each for the purposes of a book.

So, after wearing down the soles of my shoes, I’ve come up with ‘Roselawn 2021’, consisting of 20 themed trails, each calling at 21 headstones. Below, for the purpose of this blog, I’ve selected one grave from each of the 20 trails. If you’d be interested in sponsoring a trail, or being kept in the loop prior to publication, my contact details and JustGiving page are at the end of this article.

Here goes (everything in quotes is wording from the respective headstones):

Roselawn CemeteryTrail 1 is the Quirky Trail, and the headstone I’ve selected for this is William Johnston, ‘a musician, an Elvis impressionist (Billy Fonda).  Bill grew up on Donegall Road, The Village, Belfast. Laid to rest 17th December 2004’, with the Quirky trail also featuring Elmekki Berrabah ‘“Kebab Man” Returned To Allah On 12th April 2015’, and he is buried in the small Muslim section of the Cemetery.

Trail 2 is a World Tour and the selected grave is the McConnell grave with this headstone commemorating ‘Rev Patrick McConnell 10.6.1935 – 6.11.2005’ as well as his ‘beloved son Patrick ‘Ti Paddy’ 10.6.1962 – 5.4.1971 both interred in Haiti’. Interred in this grave is ‘Olga McConnell nee Trouillot devoted wife, mother and grandmere 19.5.1931 – 24.2.2017’. Reading between the lines, it seems that Olga was born in Haiti where she married Rev McConnell and gave birth to a son Patrick before moving to Northern Ireland following their respective deaths, and she appears to be the only interment in this grave.

Trail 3 is entitled Not From This Parish looking at the graves of people seemingly not originally from this neck of the woods. The featured grave in this trail is Dragana Mahaffy with this headstone erected ‘in loving memory of my devoted wife Dragana 18th August 1972 – 25th December 2018. Почивај у миру љубави моја’ which translates from Serbian as ‘Rest in peace my love’. I was talking to Gordon, Dragana’s husband from East Belfast, near her headstone recently and he informed me that his wife was an investigative journalist and author in Serbia, specializing in the Serbian Mafia, before moving to Northern Ireland, to quote Gordon, “from Belgrade to Belfast”. Tragically Dragana developed cancer shortly after moving to Belfast, dying unexpectedly from a blood clot on Christmas Day 2018 aged 46.

During this ongoing midlife crisis spent in cemeteries, people sometimes ask me where members of the local Chinese community are buried, so I now know the answer – usually Roselawn! Trail 4 features folks who I think are of Chinese origin. Ho Yuk Fong Chung is buried at plot W-3082 with her headstone, also featuring Chinese writing, commemorating ‘a dear sister, devoted friend and a loving mother Born on 26th November 1956 Died on Easter Sunday, 5th April 2015. Generous of heart, constant in faith, her deeds pure, her words kind, she gave willingly, never took’.

Trail 5 is Women Only which includes one of the most fantastic woman ever, my Granny Craig, as well as Selina Blanchflower, Danny & Jackie Blanchflower’s footballing mother, but the woman I’m featuring here is Helen Lewis, MBE. Born in 1916 into a German-speaking Jewish family in Trutnov in the Kingdom of Bohemia, Helen survived two ‘selections’ by Dr Josef Mengele, and was later sent to Stutthof concentration camp in northern Poland. When the war ended, she returned to Prague where she learnt of her husband’s death during a forced march, whilst her mother Elsa Katz, who had been deported in 1942, had died at Sobibór extermination camp and is commemorated on this headstone as 10.08.1893 – 1942 (?) A victim of the Holocaust with no known resting place’. After her marriage to Harry Lewis in Prague in 1947, the couple moved to Belfast where Helen began to work as a choreographer, also teaching modern dance. Her book ‘A Time to Speak’ was published in 1992 and was translated into several languages, and then adapted for the theatre by the late, great Sam McCready. In the 2001 Birthday Honours, Helen Lewis was awarded an MBE for her services to contemporary dance.

In the interests of equality, Trail 6 is Men Only! which includes Ian Ogle, beaten and stabbed eleven times by up to five men near his home at Cluan Place in early 2019, but the grave I’ve chosen to feature in this Trail is Patrick (Paddy) Joseph Devlin, not a man I expected to find in Roselawn! Devlin was a founding member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), a former Stormont MP, and a member of the 1974 Power Sharing Executive. Described as a ‘relentless campaigner against sectarianism’, Devlin had once been a member of the IRA but later renounced physical force republicanism to work at transcending sectarian differences.

Trail 7 is the Sports trail, which features George Best (and Bob Bishop, the man credited with discovering George: “I think I’ve found you a genius”) and Mervyn Cotter, a former Mr Universe who worked for Harland & Wolff, but the grave that this Ards fan living in Glentoran territory has chosen to feature is Sammy Pavis. Born in Ballymacarrett, after signing for Glentoran in the early 1960s where he won an Irish League medal, Pavis was snapped up by Linfield, scoring 237 goals in 260 games for the Blues in five seasons. Pavis was also the Northern Ireland snooker champion for a time after he retired from football, with his headstone containing the Linfield FC logo with the word ‘Legend’ below, as well as a snooker table with the words ‘N.I & All Ireland Champion’.

Trail 8 features 21 headstones that feature the logos of Football Clubs. In the absence of any Ards or Norwich logos!, I’ve chosen to feature Grzegorz Lozynski’s headstone which includes the logos of both Górnik Zabrze and Real Madrid. Górnik Zabrze is one of the most successful Polish football clubs in history, with this headstone stating ‘Zawsze bedziemy cie kochac’, i.e. ‘we will always love you’.

Trail 9 features those who served in the World Wars, and the chosen grave here is Edgar Lean, with a plaque on this simple wooden cross reading ‘Born-Belfast 20.01.1896 Died-Belfast 17.11.1971. WW1-age 19 Rifleman-Royal Irish Rifles The Somme-Ypres 11.11.1915 – 03.03.1919. WW2-age 43 Gunner-Royal Artillery North Africa (Tobruk-El Alamein) 21.09.1939 – 10.9.1945’.

Trail 10 features those who served in the Military including Sergeant Conor Binnie killed in Afghanistan in May 2009, but the featured grave is John Holmberg ‘Sergeant Major US Army Korea Vietnam Jun 7 1931 Nov 19 1992 Bronze Star Medal’, showing that people from this neck of the woods have served in all areas of the world.

The start of the second half of the book looks at the legacy of ‘The Troubles’ with Trail 11 featuring members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary including Victor Arbuckle, the first member of the Force to die during the Troubles, but the headstones I’m featuring on this occasion are Sergeant James William Blakely and Inspector William Henry Murtagh. Both are recorded on their respective headstones as ‘killed in the execution of his duty’ on 6 February 1976 – shot dead from behind by terrorist gunmen while on foot patrol on the Cliftonville Road – and they are buried in neighbouring graves.

Trail 12 features those Troubles Victims Shot during the Troubles, with 1972 being an especially brutal year. The featured grave for this Trail is the Warnock grave which includes Robert James Warnock ‘died 13th September 1972 aged 18’ after he was shot dead by an off-duty Royal Ulster Constabulary member during an attempted armed robbery at the Hillfoot Bar, Glen Road, Castlereagh. Also buried in this grave is his brother ‘William (Billy) died 16th October 1972 aged 15’, knocked down by an Army Armoured Personnel Carrier, while at a barricade during street disturbances on the Newtownards Road, Belfast.  Also commemorated on this headstone is ‘their broken-hearted mother Mary (May) died 25th August 1977’, and ‘Stephen murdered 13th September 2002 aged 35’. Warnock, a member of the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) was shot dead by the Red Hand Commando (RHC) as he sat in a car in Circular Road, Newtownards.

Trail 13 features those Troubles Victims as a result of Bombings. On 21 July 1972, also known as Bloody Friday, the IRA detonated at least twenty bombs in the space of eighty minutes, most within a half hour period, in Belfast killing nine people and injuring 130. Killed in the explosion at Oxford Street bus station were 15-year-old William (Billy) Crothers, and William (Billy) Irvine aged 18, with both buried in Roselawn and featured in Trail 13.

Trail 14 is also Troubles-related, and features those involved in Paramilitary organisations, with the featured grave in this Trail being Tommy Herron. A leading member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), Herron was kidnapped in September 1973, and died by one gunshot to the head, with his body found in a ditch near Drumbo. Herron received a paramilitary funeral, presided over by Reverend Ian Paisley, attended by an estimated 25,000 mourners.

Numerous headstones in Roselawn commemorate loved ones killed as the result of an accident, so Trail 15 is entitled Accidents, with the featured grave that of Lorraine Gibson who, along with her daughters Angela (9) and Julie (7) died in the Maysfield Leisure Centre fire on 14 January 1984. Three other people died in the fire, with the blaze breaking out in a storeroom, with the victims overcome by toxic fumes released by smoldering gymnastic mats. Horrific.

Trail 16 is entitled Celtic Cousins and features 21 headstones that mention either Ireland or Scotland. The featured grave is James Cook commemorated on his headstone as the ‘Laird of Lochaber’. The titles ‘Laird, Lord or Lady of Glencoe and Lochaber’ are trademarked Highland titles available for purchase online.

Trail 17 looks at Groups, Organisations & Workplaces with the chosen grave belonging to Ernest Harris with the logo for the Maple Leaf Social & Rec Club featuring at the top of this headstone. Many readers will remember the Maple Leaf Club on Park Avenue, originally a meeting spot for emigrants heading to Canada on the first transatlantic flights from Belfast – hence the maple leaf in the name.

Trail 18 features 21 Ministers with the selected grave being Rev Dr Roy Magee, O.B.E. Minister of Dundonald Presbyterian church from 1975, Rev Magee became actively involved with a cross-community alliance of clergymen and community workers and, from 1990, worked in harness with Archbishop Robin Eames, the Church of Ireland primate, during protracted, private discussions with the Combined Loyalist Military Command which, ultimately, culminated in the 1994 cessation of violence.

Trail 19 is entitled Titles and features 21 graves of Sirs & MBEs including the legendary Tommy Patton, but the grave I’m featuring in this blog is William (Billy) McKnight, MBE recorded on his headstone as a ‘Teacher and musician [and] Beloved husband and father’. McKnight was awarded the MBE in 1968 when Principal of Strandtown Primary School, Belfast, and was living at 227 Kings Road, Belfast when he died in 1984.

Trail 20 is entitled And Finally …. and contains nice sentiments written on headstones (not that people are going to write bad sentiments!), with the featured grave being Susan Jayne Wilson. As well as the image of Wilson, who died in August 2007 aged 57, the headstone contains what seems to have been a letter to her family penned by her: ‘Goodbye my family, my life is past. I loved you to the very last. Weep not for me but courage take, Love each other for my sake. For those you love don’t go away. They walk beside you every day’. Powerful!

Thank you for reading this article, and I hope you managed to avoid nodding off! If you’d like to support this Roselawn 2021 book, you can do so via www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/roselawn2021, e-mail me on pmtours27@gmail.com or call me on 07596 603 463.

Peter McCabe

Associate member, History Hub Ulster

 

Homes for Disabled Heroes in Belfast – Part 1

Homes for Heroes, Knockbreda

Many people will be aware of the cottages that were built across Northern Ireland under the terms of the Irish (Provision for Sailors and Soldiers) Land Act of 1919 for ex-servicemen from the Great War. However, these were not the only houses built for war veterans. In 1929/30, the British Legion constructed twelve semi-detached houses – four in Dunmurry, four in Whitehouse and four in Dungannon. The focus of this article is on the ten Homes for Heroes – bungalows built at Knockbreda specifically for disabled ex-servicemen by the Belfast Branch of the Auctioneers and Estate Agents’ Institute.

In 1915, the Council of the Auctioneers’ and Estate Agents’ Institute in London purchased the Star and Garter Hotel in Richmond for the purposes of providing a permanent home for soldiers and sailors totally disabled in the war. The Belfast Branch committed to raise £360 (£39,600 in current terms) and organised auctions of items donated by individuals and commercial concerns. A comprehensive list of the financial donations and donated items was published in the Belfast News-Letter on Tuesday 12th October 1915 in advance of the auctions on 27th and 28th October. In reading down the list, Samuel McCausland (Wholesale Tea, Sugar, and Seed Merchant of Victoria Street) donated ten pounds of tea and S D Bell (Tea Merchant and Grocer of Upper Newtownards Road) donated five pounds of tea. The hotel was purchased for £21,500 (£2,365,000 in current terms) and was run by the British Red Cross Society.

On 22nd November 1915, the Northern Whig reported that the scheme had received very generous backing in Belfast and the North of Ireland with the Belfast Branch of the Institute being able to guarantee 1,000 guineas or £1,050, which equates to £115,500 in current terms. As there was a substantial surplus, the Belfast Branch of the Institute decided to create a fund to provide a similar home for our permanently disabled soldiers in the North of Ireland. The first event to raise funds was a grand subscription dance in the Carlton Restaurant, 25-27 Donegall Place, the Managing Director, Mr Fred William Henry, having granted the rooms free-of-charge.  Mr Henry was also the owner of the Ye Olde Castle Restaurant on Castle Place.

Homes for Heroes

In the 14th July 1916 edition of the Belfast News-Letter, the Belfast Branch of the Institute advertised that it was desirous of obtaining a site of one or more acres of land suitable for erection of semi-detached cottages for disabled soldiers and sailors. A 1.25 acre plot of land was subsequently acquired from Lord Deramore at the junction of the Newtownbreda Road and the Saintfield Road, close to the Ormeau tram terminus. In March 1917, builders were invited to tender for a contract to erect the cottages and eight semi-detached cottages had been completed by April 1919, with plans for a further six detached cottages.

On 3rd April 1919, several of the cottages were officially opened by Mrs Ainsworth Barr and the Northern Whig reported the speech made by Mr Thomas Edward McConnell JP, Chairman of the Belfast Branch of the Institute, in which he said, The work had now finished. They had eight cottages, two of which were already occupied – one by a noble fellow who on 1st July, 1916, was shot through the spine and who would never be on his feet again and the other by a man with two artificial legs and an artificial arm. It was men such as these that deserved their consideration and help. This would have been a poignant event for Thomas McConnell as one of his sons, Reginald Brian McConnell, was Killed in Action on 22nd January 1917, aged 18, whilst serving as a Second Lieutenant with 6th Battalion King’s Own Scottish Borderers.                                            

It is not known whether the proposed six detached homes were constructed but a further two cottages had been erected by the Golfers’ Union of Ireland (Ulster Branch) and handed over to the Belfast Branch of the Institute in July 1922. Two Ulster golfers, Mr Briggs and Mr Walsh, formed a scheme to raise money from the golfing community for the Prisoners of War Fund and, in February 1919, the Northern Whig reported that £600 (£32,400 in current terms) to, Build and permanently Endow for cost of upkeep a Cottage to be known as the “Golfers’ Cottage” for a permanently disabled married soldier.

These cottages were provided free of rent and taxes (unlike the cottages administered by the Irish Sailors and Soldiers Land Trust) and contained three rooms, scullery, bathroom (with hot and cold water) and a lavatory. In this image, from the Belfast Telegraph (4th July 1922), a plaque of some description adorns the front wall between the two cottages and possibly bore the inscription, “Golfers’ Cottages”.  

As the cottages do not exist any longer, it has been difficult to identify their exact location. The 1919 newspaper article referred to above said that the cottages were built at the junction of the Newtownbreda and Saintfield Roads, within a few yards of the Ormeau tram terminus. However, this description is misleading. In the early 1920s, the Newtownbreda Road ran from the Ormeau Road junction with Church Road before veering right at the start of the Saintfield Road. This section of roadway later became part of the Saintfield Road. The Ormeau Tram Terminus was located near the junction of the Ormeau Road, Hampton Park and Galwally Park. The 1951 Belfast Street Directory for Church Road records that the cottages were the first houses listed on the same side as Knockbreda Parish Church and the Graveyard. The OSNI Historical Fourth Edition map shows eight semi-detached dwellings in the corner bounded by Church Road and Newtownbreda Road (now Saintfield Road). This map shows a space in which the 1924 cottages would be built. It is, I think, safe to assume that this was the location of the cottages built for disabled ex-servicemen.

OSNI Historical Maps – Third Edition and Fourth Edition

In the Belfast Street Directories, eight cottages were recorded as “Soldiers’ Cottages” and two as “Golfers’ Cottages” but each of the ten cottages bore the name of a battle from the Great War – Bailleul, Thiepval, Cambrai, Messines, Beaumont Hamel, St Quentin, Jutland, Courtrai, Mons and Ypres.

Part Two of this article will deal with the stories of some of the men who lived in these houses in the 1920s (as recorded in the 1926 Belfast Street Directory).

Notes:

These houses are being documented and their occupants researched by History Hub Researcher, Nigel Henderson, and progress can be followed in this Facebook group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/204334820682671/

If readers have any old photographs of the cottages covered by this article or have any information about the men who lived in any of the cottages built for veterans of the Great War, History Hub Ulster and Nigel Henderson would like to hear from you.

Read about the occupants of these houses in Part 2 by clicking here.

Combating the “flu”: Spanish influenza in Ulster – Part 2

This is the second part of a long read. Read the first part of the article here.

Influenza in Ulster

The first outbreak of influenza in the province of Ulster visited the towns of Belfast, Lurgan, Portadown and Londonderry during June 1918, causing havoc as businesses had to close or function on reduced staff.  Services were disrupted throughout these towns. In other Ulster towns such as Larne, Clones, Cookstown, Newry and the county of Donegal, their main influenza outbreaks occurred during the second and third waves in the autumn of 1918 and spring of 1919. 

In Ulster, as elsewhere in Ireland and Great Britain, it was the local authorities and their Medical Officers of Health that had responsibility for public health in their respective towns and cities. They were tasked with the management of the disease at a local level. It was the Poor Law medical system of the Union infirmary and dispensary districts – administered by the Board of guardians – that bore the brunt of medical care.  However the Local Government Board for Ireland (LGBI) controlled the activities of the boards of guardians in relation to the administration of the dispensary medical system, union infirmaries and fever hospitals it also controlled the administration of the Public Health Acts by the rural, urban and County Councils.[36] So how did these combined forces in Ulster respond to the public health crisis of epidemic influenza?

During the first wave the Medical Superintendent Officer of Health for Belfast Corporation, Dr Hugh W. Bailie ordered school closures and recommended the thorough disinfection of cinemas once or twice a day. He also proposed sending out his public health department inspectors around their districts to advise people on what measures they should take if they contracted influenza.[37]  In Londonderry the main recommendation by the corporation was school closures.[38]  This is surprising as influenza was rampant in the city with burials at the City Cemetery reaching a record number of 50 during the week ending 6 July 1918 and nearly 20 burials alone on Monday 8 July 1918.[39]   There was no evidence that any specific steps were taken to prevent the spread of influenza in either Lurgan or Portadown during the first wave. Again this is noteworthy as there were 31 influenza deaths were recorded in the town area from the middle of June until the end of July 1918.[40]  The lacklustre response from these local authorities during the first wave may be due to the consensus that this outbreak of the disease was a seasonal flu and therefore unworthy of any particular action. 

During the second wave, there was a more proactive response by local authorities in Ulster towns as many of the councils took preventative measures.  A common recommendation was the closure of day, Sunday and technical schools. It was not a compulsory measure but in general, school managers adhered to it.  However, Methodist College in Belfast remained open during this virulent wave with tragic results. Influenza hit the school at the end of October 1918. Student boarders contracted the flu and only the Medical Officer, matron and headmaster of the school avoided contracting the disease.  Sadly during November, two members of staff, George Manning and the Rev P. P  O’Sullivan, as well as one of the boarders, Oliver Crawford, aged 15 died from pneumonia following on from influenza.[41]  The Friends school in Lisburn may also have regretted its decision to remain open.  Influenza was rife and by 31 October 1918 only 17 boarders and two members of staff had not contracted the disease.  Helen Clarke, a day pupil died on 31 October 1918.  When pupils Anna Magowan and Sadie Walsh died on 3 November and 8 November 1918 respectively, it was then decided to close the school and send the remaining 16 pupils home.  The larger dormitories in the school acted as wards where the remaining students who were ill were nursed.  The housekeeper, Miss McCullough and headmaster’s daughter, Frances Ridges, a student from Queen’s University, Belfast, worked as nurses but unfortunately they both lost their lives to influenza.  The school eventually opened again in early January 1919.[42]

In Ulster, as with the rest of United Kingdom, several councils singled out places of entertainment for closure and ventilation under the pretext that people gathered there and could therefore spread the disease. In Newry both local cinemas closed for one week at the Medical Officer of Health’s request, however, one of them, the Imperial, re-opened without consulting the Public Health Authority, while the other, the Frontier, remained closed.[43]  The Public Health authorities in Belfast, Portadown and Newtownards requested permission from the LGBI to close cinemas in their towns.  However, the LGBI advised that they had no powers to close the cinemas, as this action was not approved in any part of the United Kingdom.[44]

Mass gathering of people in the cinemas, theatres and trams were not the only cause for concern and the Irish News feared that the congregation of huge masses of people on the streets during the armistice celebrations would further spread the disease.[45] It has been suggested that an ironic impact of the war was the extra infections and deaths that occurred as a result of the armistice celebration, where the celebrations became the foci of new or recurring outbreaks of influenza.[46] In Belfast the armistice celebration occurred during the peak of the second influenza wave in the city.  Interestingly, deaths from pneumonia – a common complication of influenza – peaked in Belfast on 23 November 1918 not long after these celebrations took place.[47]   Whether the celebrations aided this peak is a matter for debate. 

In Belfast, Larne and Cookstown, public notices of preventative measures were displayed in public places, published in the local newspapers and printed on handbills for distribution. These notices recommended avoiding crowded gatherings, good ventilation and cleanliness in homes and discouraged spitting on the streets.  Influenza sufferers should go to bed early and remain there until completely recovered.[48]

The Irish tradition of waking the dead came in for much criticism as it was feared that the custom would aid in the spread of infectious disease. Both Newry and Ballyclare councils produced public notices which recommended the prompt burial of influenza victims without a wake being held for the deceased.  However, again there was no official central government support given to forbid the holding and attendance at wakes.  Again it was not a compulsory measure but only a strong recommendation as the local Public Health Authorities had no powers to stop wakes. These were not the only towns to criticise the tradition of holding wakes In Dublin during the second wave, an Irish Times editorial complained that attending wakes of people who had died from influenza was an objectionable practice that was believed to be a fruitful cause of the spread of infection and that this custom more than anything else frustrated the efforts of the public health authorities to eradicate influenza.[49]

There were valid objections to ‘waking the dead’. Contemporary opinion was that infection was thought to remain in the corpse and therefore could be spread to the living.  However, there is no evidence that this was the case with respect to the influenza virus.[50]  Waking the body in an open coffin may not have spread the disease through the corpse.  However, anyone attending the wake who had the ‘flu could bring the infection to a small house where many people congregated in confined spaces.  Once there it could be spread quickly within a community. 

Medical Response

The main medical response in towns was by the Poor Law Union under the auspices of union infirmaries and the dispensary system.  However, these institutions were unprepared for the number of influenza patients needing treatment. During the first wave in Belfast the number of influenza patients admitted to the union infirmary was so large that it greatly increased the workload in the hospital and the Visiting Medial Officer, Dr Gardner Robb stated:

‘Never in my recollection has the strain on the staff been so great as during the past few weeks.’ The whole staff has worked most enthusiastically and the generous recognition of our efforts by the Board is most appreciated by all.[51]

The Lurgan union infirmary was also under pressure and there were reports that it had not been so full in over thirty years due to an influx of influenza sufferers.[52] The workhouse infirmaries throughout Ireland were extremely busy.  During 1918 the number of deaths in Irish workhouses increased by 3,329 on the previous year with influenza and pneumonia deaths rising by 2,551.[53]

There was also a scarcity of medical professionals as many doctors were serving at the western front.  Temporary doctors were difficult to source for both the union infirmaries and the dispensary districts. Doctors that were available could, in many cases, demand whatever salary they wanted much to the annoyance of the guardians.  However these doctors were justified in requesting a higher weekly salary as they were under severe pressure.  During 1918 the Medical officers of health worked long hours to treat their patients, paying 100,000 more home visits during this period than in the previous year, indicating not only the virulence of the disease throughout Ireland but also the work pressure that dispensary doctors were under during this pandemic.[54]

Cures and treatments

Unsurprisingly, as the real cause of influenza was unknown at the time and as there is still no known cure for the disease, there was little consensus among the Irish medical profession on the best treatment for, or, prevention against the disease, which resulted in many cures and treatments being suggested.  According to Ida Milne, some Irish doctors recommended gargling with a tincture of creosote or a solution of permanganate of potash; calomel (as a purgative); oxygen; stimulants (such as strychnine); some preparation of opium for sleeplessness.[55] An article in the Armagh Guardian advised that if attacked by influenza, the sufferer should at once take a dose of opening medicine such as castor oil, and if possible take a hot bath and go to bed and send for the doctor.  It advised that to work or walk off an attack is dangerous.[56]  A popular treatment choice was quinine and the Belfast MOH, Dr Bailie recommended taking quinine tablets of between 2 and 5 grains twice daily as a tonic and preventative.[57] 

Some doctors widely endorsed the use of alcohol in influenza cases to relieve pain and bolster strength.[58]  This treatment was so popular that in February 1919, the Dublin Public Health Committee requested the War Cabinet to call for the immediate release of supplies of whiskey in the interests of public health.[59]  The lack of a cure for influenza meant that people resorted to over-the-counter cures to help treat the disease.[60]  An immense assortment of products claimed curative or preventative powers against influenza.   Disinfection was considered a good preventative as influenza was believed to be a bacterial infection. Lifebuoy soap claimed to be a ‘reputable germicide and sure disinfectant.’[61]

A nationally established disinfectant proclaimed ‘Guard against Influenza by the daily use of Jeyes’ Fluid.’[62]  Disinfection with Jeyes’ Fluid was one of the recommendations of the Dublin Medical Officer of Health, Dr Charles Cameron in dealing with influenza.[63]  Oxo and Bovril were popular beef teas of the day and were thought to strengthen the body against the onslaught of disease.[64]  So popular were these products that during December 1918, a series of advertisements apologised for the shortage of Bovril during the influenza outbreak.[65]  Bovril was considered a very important form of nourishment during the epidemic. So much so that during November 1918 the Belfast Guardians increased the nurses’ Bovril rations by one quarter of an ounce per day to boost their diet to help them cope with their increased workload

In reality there was no cure for influenza and traditional nursing care provided the best and only effective treatment for the disease.[66]  However, nurses like doctors were in short supply as many professional nurses had also volunteered for both army and naval medical corps during the war.[67]  This situation was further exacerbated when remaining nurses started to contract influenza themselves. In Ulster where there were numerous reports of professional nurses being infected with influenza during the course of their duties.  Workhouse infirmaries reported the absence of their nursing staff due to influenza.  Many nurses in the Belfast Infirmary contracted influenza during the first and second waves and six died from the disease.[68] Similarly, during the second wave several nurses in the Londonderry Union contracted influenza with two fatalities.[69]  Also during the second wave, eight nurses in the Lurgan Union infirmary contracted influenza and two later died from the complication pneumonia.[70]

The medical response during the second and third waves was similar to that of the first.  Influenza sufferers availed of treatment and medicines through the dispensary system and the workhouse infirmaries.  The demands of war impacted on the workhouse infirmaries because in many cases wards or entire workhouse hospitals were requisitioned for military patients. The workhouse infirmaries were filled to capacity and suffered from overcrowding.In Strabane, the military acquired the workhouse for treatment of troops just prior to the outbreak of influenza in October 1918 and most of the inmates were sent to the Londonderry workhouse.[71] The chairman of Strabane council was very concerned about the lack of treatment and hospital accommodation for the sick poor in the town.  The council eventually convinced the guardians to provide hospital accommodation for those suffering from influenza but not before a young boy, who was forced to lay ‘on a bed of straw and bags’, had died from influenza.[72] 

The local authority response to influenza in towns like Belfast, Londonderry Lurgan and Portadown was poor but the United Kingdom as a whole did not respond effectively to the crisis.  Central government was pre-occupied by the war and left it up to individual local authorities to deal with influenza at a local level.  In Manchester, the public health committee—aware of the gravity of the influenza pandemic — were more proactive. They supplied additional help to nurse and provide domestic assistance to influenza sufferers where it was needed in the city.  They also supplied food and coal for those unable to provide the same for themselves. It has been suggested that in Manchester public aid with food, fuel and nursing during the pandemic was of much more value than treatment by local physicians in the city.[73]

There is no evidence that the bigger industrial towns such as Belfast, Londonderry and Lurgan took similar measures as Manchester to help their citizens. Nevertheless, some Ulster towns took more concrete measures to help the sick poor.  Influenza was rife in Newry with many people dying of the complication pneumonia. Newry council was aware that the poor needed more substantial charitable help especially with nutrition.  The provision of nourishing food was deemed important.  The council arranged for two Newry creameries to supply sufficient quantities of free milk for distribution due to the influenza outbreak.[74]  The staff of the domestic department of the Newry Technical School provided nourishing foodstuff for the sick such as beef tea and mutton broth during their closure.  This work was discontinued on 25 November 1918 when the school re-opened.[75]

Despite this aid, the situation in Newry was very serious.  A Relief of Distress Fund Committee was formed to ‘consider the best means of meeting the exceptional expenditure that has been and is being incurred by the various charitable organisations in the relief of distress arising out of the influenza epidemic.’[76]  A circular was sent out inviting subscriptions to the fund and it was hoped that a sum of at least £1,000 would be raised.[77] The fund was closed on to 31 December 1918 and a total £734 4s. 2d. was raised and was allocated as follows: three-quarters (£550 13s. 2d.), to the Catholic Charitable Organisations such as the St Vincent de Paul Society, and one quarter (£183 11s.), to the local Protestant clergymen for distribution.[78]  The fund reimbursed the St Vincent de Paul Society for the expenditure it had already incurred in Newry, where it had spent several hundred pounds on clothing, coal, groceries, butter, milk and other necessities for the poor during the pandemic.  This indicated that charities in the town rose to the challenges imposed by the pandemic in a timely manner.[79]

In Cookstown, although both the council and the guardians made efforts to combat the pandemic, it was the middle class population of Cookstown who made the biggest contribution in dealing with the effects of influenza in the town.  As in Newry, a subscription list was opened and a committee was formed to look after the sick poor in the town and dispensary district.  Many local trained ladies volunteered to act as nurses in the district offering their services for no payment.  The Sick Nursing Society used the Technical School kitchen to provide nourishing food, not only for the sick poor in the town, but, also for those families that could afford to feed themselves but were too sick to provide food and nurture for other family members.  This was a popular service with up to 170 families in the town and district receiving this aid.[80]

In Clones the workhouse hospital was full and doctors were working to full capacity.  The Clones Relief Committee was formed to assist families incapacitated by influenza with both nourishment and nursing.  The committee established a kitchen in the Town Hall and prepared and distributed soup, beef tea and porridge to those patients requiring them. The St Vincent de Paul society placed their funds at the disposal of the relief committee.  The committee did not raise a public subscription in the town but instead they took action first and sought reimbursement later from the guardians for any expenses incurred.[81]

In conclusion the response from most local authorities in Ulster consisted of applying preventative measures such as closing schools, producing public notices, encouraging disinfection of factories, cinemas and public buildings.  However they lacked the authority from the central body of the LGBI to enforce recommendations such as closure of cinemas or prevention of wakes.  The boards of guardians actively tried to obtain sufficient medical personnel to help during the pandemic and in general adhered to the requests of their Medical Officers of Health with respect to treatment of the disease.  However public aid with food, fuel and nursing during the pandemic could be of much more value than treatment by local doctors.[82] So although local guardians in Ulster actively tried to obtain sufficient medical personnel to help during the pandemic, maybe if they and the local councils in towns such as Belfast, Londonderry and Lurgan looked towards the physical nourishment and welfare of the poor, then the influenza death toll may have not been so high.

Dr. Patricia Marsh: Queen’s University, Belfast

Dr. Marsh will be giving a talk entitled “The Spanish Influenza Pandemic in Antrim and Down 1918-1919” at Bangor Library on Thursday 21st February 2019 at 7.30pm, and Lisburn Road Library on Wednesday 27th February 2019 at 6.30pm 6.30 to 7.30 p.m.


[36]Report of the Irish Public Health Council on the public health and medical services in Ireland [Cmd 761], H. C. 1920, xvii 2, 1075, p. 4.

[37] Marsh, ‘The effect of the 1918-19 influenza pandemic on Belfast’, pp. 66-7.

[38]Irish News, 25 June 1918; Derry Journal, 26 June 1918; Dungannon Democrat, 26 June 1918.

[39] Derry Journal, 10 July 1918; Irish News, 9 July 1918.

[40] Lurgan Medical Officer of Health Report, 5 Aug. 1918 (P.R.O.N.I., Lurgan Medical Officer of Health Report, LA/51/9D/6); Lurgan Mail, 10 Aug. 1918.

[41] John Watson Henderson, Methodist College, Belfast, 1868-1938: A survey and retrospect Vol. 1 (Belfast, 1939), p. 271.

[42]Neville H. Newhouse, A History of the Friends School, Lisburn(Lurgan, 1974), pp. 90-1.

[43]Newry Reporter, 19 Nov. 1918.                                                                                            

[44] Marsh, ‘The effect of the 1918-19 influenza pandemic on Belfast’, pp 71-73.

[45]Irish News, 13 Nov. 1918.

[46] Niall Johnson, Britain and the 1918-19 influenza pandemic: A dark epilogue, (London/New York, 2006), p.193.

[47]Weekly returns of births and deaths in the Dublin Registration area and in eighteen of the principal towns in Ireland 1918, (Dublin, 1919).

[48]Irish News, 31 Oct. 1918; Belfast News-Letter, 31 Oct. 1918.

[49][49]Freeman’s Journal, 2 Nov 1918; Irish Independent, 2 Nov 1918, Irish Times, 4 Nov 1918

[50] S. S. Bakhshi, ‘Code of practice for funeral workers: Managing infection risk and body bagging’, in Communicable Disease and Public Health, 4:4 (2001), p. 284.

[51] Belfast Board of Guardians Meeting, 9 July 1918 (P.R.O.N.I., Belfast Union Minute Books, BG/7/A/100).

Irish News, 10 July 1918; Belfast News-Letter, 10 July 1918.

[52]Belfast Evening Telegraph, 19 July 1918, Belfast News-Letter, 20 July 1918, Armagh Guardian, 26 July 1918.

[53]Annual Report of the Local Government Board for Ireland for the year ended 31st March 1919, p. xxiii.

[54]Annual Report of the Local Government Board for Ireland for the year ended 31st March 1919, p. xxvi.

[55] Ida Milne’s contribution to Guy Beiner, Patricia Marsh and Ida Milne ‘Greatest killer of the twentieth century: the Great Flu of 1918-19’ History Ireland (March/April 2009), pp. 40-43.

 History Ireland article

[56] Armagh Guardian, 08 Nov 1918

[57]Irish News, 31 Oct 1918 and Belfast News-Letter, 31 Oct 1918

[58]Lori Loeb, ‘Beating the flu: orthodox and commercial responses to influenza in Britain, 1889–1919’ Social History of Medicine 18:2 (2005), p. 220.

[59]Irish Independent, 22 Feb. 1919.

[60]Loeb, ‘Beating the flu’, p. 203.

[61]Northern Whig, 28 Nov. 1918; Ulster Herald, 15 Feb. 1919; Belfast News-Letter, 12 Mar. 1919; Irish News, 18 Mar. 1919, 25 Mar. 1919.

[62]Belfast News-Letter, 5 Mar. 1919, 12 Mar. 1919, 19 Mar. 1919.

[63]Lurgan Mail, 2 Nov. 1918; Larne Times, 2 Nov. 1918; Ballymena Weekly Telegraph, 2 Nov. 1918; County Down Spectator, 2 Nov. 1918.

[64]Loeb, ‘Beating the flu’, p. 220.

[65]Irish Independent, 23, 27 Nov. 1918, 4, 13, 23 Dec. 1918; Irish Times, 29 Nov. 1918, 7, 21, 28, 30 Dec. 1918.

[66] Carol R. Byerly, Fever of war: The influenza epidemic in the U. S. army during World War 1 (New York/London, 2005), p. 144.

[67] Barrington, Health, medicine and politics in Ireland, p. 73.

[68] Marsh, ‘The effect of the 1918-19 influenza pandemic on Belfast’, p. 32.

[69] Londonderry Board of Guardians Meeting, 9 Nov. 1918 (P.R.O.N.I., Londonderry Union Minutes, BG/2/A/33), Derry Journal, 11 Nov. 1918.

[70] Belfast News-Letter, 23 Nov. 1918, Belfast News-Letter, 7 Dec. 1918; Irish News, 23 Nov. 1918; Lurgan Mail, 23 Nov. 1918; Lurgan Board of Guardians Minutes, 21 Nov. 1918,  5 Dec. 1918 (P.R.O.N.I., Lurgan Union Minute Book, BG/22/ A/114).

[71] Strabane Board of Guardians Meetings, 27 Sept. 1918 and 8 Oct. 1918 (P.R.O.N.I., Strabane Union Minute Book, BG/27/A/50).

[72]Belfast-Newsletter, 6 Nov. 1918; Derry People, 9 Nov. 1918; Ulster Herald, 9 Nov. 1918.

[73] Fred, R Van Hartesveldt, ‘Manchester’, in Fred van Hartesveldt (ed.) The 1918-1919 Pandemic of Influenza: The Urban Impact in the Western World (Lewiston, Queenstown, Lampeter: The Edward Mellon Press, 1992), p. 103.

[74]Newry Urban District Council meeting, 4 Nov. 1918 (P.R.O.N.I., Newry Urban District Council minutes, LA58/2CA/6).

[75]Newry Reporter, 29 Oct.1918; Newry Reporter, 28 Nov. 1918.

[76]Newry Reporter, 16 Nov. 1918.

[77]Newry Reporter, 16 Nov. 1918.

[78]Newry Reporter, 11 Jan. 1919; Belfast News-Letter, 13 Jan. 1919.

[79] Patricia Marsh, “‘An enormous amount of distress among the poor’: Aid for the Poor in Ulster during the Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919’ in Poverty and Welfare in Ireland 1838-1948, Eds. Crossman, Virginia and Gray Peter, (IAP, 2011), pp, 217-218.

[80]Irish News, 18 Nov 1918, Belfast News-Letter, 18 Nov 1918, Mid Ulster Mail. 17 Nov 1918, 30 Nov. 1918 and 7 Dec. 1918.

[81]Belfast News-Letter, 21 Nov. 1918, Anglo-Celt 30 Nov. 1918, 1 Feb. 1919, 15 Feb. 1919.

[82] Van Hartesveldt, ‘Manchester’, p 103

Combating the “flu”: Spanish influenza in Ulster – Part 1

Dr. Patricia Marsh: Queen’s University, Belfast

Dr. Marsh will be giving a talk entitled “The Spanish Influenza Pandemic in Antrim and Down 1918-1919” at Bangor Library on Thursday 21st February 2019 at 7.30pm, and Lisburn Road Library on Wednesday 27th February 2019 at 6.30pm 6.30 to 7.30 p.m.

Towards the end of the First World War in June 1918, a fatal influenza epidemic not only hit troops in the western front but also the civilians throughout the world. Although the exact mortality figures are unknown, it was responsible for the deaths of more people than the First World War[1] and in 2002 the global death toll of the pandemic was estimated to be approximately 50 million.[2]  Although called the ‘Flanders’ grippe ‘by English soldiers’;  ‘Blitzkatarrh’ by the Germans; ‘the disease of the wind’ in Persia; the name it became commonly known as was the ‘Spanish Influenza.’[3]  So why Spanish influenza? The neutrality of Spain during the First World War meant that there was no newspaper censorship in that country and consequently reports about the disease were published not only in Spanish newspapers and also in the worldwide press. The Times reported 100,000 victims in Madrid of an unknown disease responsible for 700 deaths in 10 days, which had caused disruption to public services, offices and factories.  King Alfonso XIII of Spain and other leading politicians were among those afflicted.[4]  It was these reports that gave rise to the erroneous impression that influenza had originated in Spain, leading to the misnomer Spanish influenza.  However, the Spanish themselves called it the soldier of Naples.[5]

The disease, however, did not originate in Spain.  One theory is that the pandemic originated as early as the winter of 1916, on the Western Front at the British Army camp at Étaples. The outbreaks at Étaples were diagnosed at the time as purulent bronchitis but in retrospect they showed the same symptoms as the Spanish ‘flu.  Dr Herbert French, author of the 1920 Ministry of Health Report was strongly of the opinion that the fatal cases from purulent bronchitis were likely to be the same as those of the pandemic.[6]  It has also been suggested that the pandemic could have originated in China and that the movement of a very large number of workers from China to France during the First World War might have played a part in the pandemic’s development.[7] However the most popular theory was that influenza started in America. The earliest recorded outbreak of the disease was on 5 March 1918 among army recruits at Camp Funston, Fort Riley, Kansas. By the end of March it had spread to military training installations in several US mid-western and south eastern states and from here it travelled with the troops on the ships to the Western Front.[8] 

1918 influenza victims crowd an emergency hospital at Fort Riley, Kansas

The Flu in Ireland

Spanish influenza struck in three concurrent waves throughout the world and Ireland was no exception with three distinct waves of influenza, which occurred in June 1918, October 1918 and February 1919.[9]  Speaking in 1920, the Registrar-General for Ireland, Sir William Thompson was of the opinion that influenza in Ireland was the worst disease of an epidemic nature since the period of the Great Famine.[10]  The death toll in Ireland was approximately 23,000,[11] however this is a conservative estimate as not all influenza deaths in the country were registered and also some were registered incorrectly. The morbidity from the disease is more difficult to ascertain as no accurate records of incidences of influenza were kept during this period.  However, Ida Milne suggests that as many as 800,000 people could have been infected in Ireland.[12]  As many as 300,000 people could have been infected in the province of Ulster, where 7,582 people were recorded as dying from influenza.  However, the death toll could have been much higher.[13] 

The first recorded outbreak of Influenza in Ireland was on the United States Ship Dixie docked in Queenstown (now Cobh),[14] however this outbreak was confined to the ship as there were no reports of ‘flu in the town.  The first wave proper was reported to be principally in Belfast and other districts of the north of Ireland.[15]  First mention of influenza in the province appeared on 11 and 12 June 1918 in Belfast newspapers when a notice appeared regarding the re-opening, after influenza, of a department in James Mackie & Sons munitions factory situated in the Springfield Road.[16]  Influenza spread from Belfast across the north of Ireland probably via the rail network. Elsewhere in Ireland there were also sporadic outbreaks at towns such as Ballinasloe, Tipperary town and Athlone.  It is notable that these towns were situated near army bases as the general consensus was that ‘flu was brought to Ireland with troops returned home on leave or to convalesce from wounds and then spread via the rail network.[17] 

The second wave originated in Leinster. Howth on the east coast appeared to be the entry point and was reported to be there as early as 1 October 1918.[18]  From Howth it spread to Dublin and then throughout Ireland.  In Ulster influenza was first reported in the naval port of Larne on 9 October 1918.[19]  The disease did not reach Belfast until the end of October 1918.[20]  Influenza spread to most Ulster towns during this wave and this was the most virulent wave in the province.  County Donegal was badly affected during this outbreak, especially the Inishowen Union District, which had the highest death rate per thousand of population in Ulster.[21]

The third wave which started in February 1919, again originated in Leinster.  It was first reported on 5 February 1919 in the Celbridge district in Co Kildare.[22]  Initial reports of influenza in Ulster during this wave were in Holywood on 6 February 1919[23] and it was in Belfast by 18 February 1919.[24] Influenza visited most Ulster towns but in many such as Belfast, Lurgan, Larne, Newry and Dungannon this was a milder wave than those in 1918 and this may be because immunity was gained from previous waves. However, Dublin county and borough suffered severely during all three waves of the disease. County Donegal was again severely affected with a higher mortality during the third wave in 1919 than in both waves during 1918.  This was also the case with other counties in the west of the country such as Mayo, Sligo and Galway.

Age distribution

There was an unusual age distribution for this pandemic as it targeted young adults in particular.  Normally influenza kills the very young and the very old but Spanish influenza showed an unusual age distribution of deaths.  Although there was still high mortality for the very young and very old there was also a very high mortality for the age group between 15 and 44.[25] In England and Wales mortality was  concentrated among those aged 20 to 40 and especially those 25 to 35.[26]  It has been suggested that this peculiarity helped to produce Britain’s ‘lost generation’ caused by not only from the high mortality among young men killed due to the war but also from influenza on the home front.[27]

 In Ireland 55.5% of all influenza deaths in 1918 were of those aged between 15 and 45.[28]  In 1919 more than 58% of the total influenza mortality was between the ages of 20 and 65.[29]  Figure 1 is a graphical representation of the age-specific influenza death rates for Ireland comparing 1918 and 1919.  It shows that the age-specific death rates for Ireland followed the global trend of targeting young adults and that during 1918 it was those aged 25 to 35 who suffered the highest mortality of any age group.[30]  The Irish figures also show that infants under one year were also at particular risk during the pandemic.  This was hardly surprising as, even without epidemic disease, the urban areas of Ireland such as Dublin and Belfast suffered from one of the highest infant mortality rates in the United Kingdom due to infection and poor diet.[31]


Figure 1: Graph comparing the age-specific influenza death rates for Ireland for 1918 and 1919

Why was the pandemic so detrimental to 25 to 35 age-group? 

One theory was that elderly people had gained immunity to the 1918-19 pandemic due to previous exposure to the influenza epidemic of 1847-48 which may have been caused by a similar H1 virus.[32]  Another is that young adults were more likely to attempt to work through illness, thus maximizing their risk of succumbing to influenza.[33]  It has also been suggested that many of the age group 20-45 had been soldiers living in miserable conditions on the western front which would have lowered their immunity, but the same death rates were seen in young people in countries unaffected by the war.[34]  However, the answer may lie in a scientific study that took place in 2007, which suggested that the strong immune systems of young adults overreacted to the 1918 virus causing this particular age group to be at the most risk during the pandemic.[35]

Read Part 2: Spanish Influenza in Ulster

[1] Howard Phillips and David Killingray, ‘Introduction’ in Howard Phillips and David Killingray (eds.) Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918-1919: new perspectives (London, 2003), pp 3-4.

[2]Niall P.A.S. Johnson and Juergan Mueller, ‘Updating the Accounts: Global Mortality of the 1918 –1920 “Spanish” Influenza Pandemic’ Bulletin of History of Medicine. 76 (2002),, p. 115

[3] Pete Davies, Catching cold: 1918’s forgotten tragedy and the scientific hunt for the virus that caused it (London, 1999), p. 58.

[4]The Times, 3 June 1918.

[5] Davies, Catching cold,  p. 58.

[6] J. S. Oxford, ‘The so-called Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918 may have originated in France in 1916’ Phil. Trans. Royal Society London 356 (2001), pp 1857-1859.

[7]Christopher Langford, ‘Did the 1918–19 influenza pandemic originate in China?’ Population and Development Review 31:3 (2005), p. 492.

[8] K. David Patterson, and Gerald F. Pyle, ‘The Geography and Mortality of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic’, Bulletin of History of Medicine  65 (1991), p. 5.

[9]Annual report of the Local Government Board for Ireland for year ended 31 March 1919, [Cmd 1432], H. C. 1920, xxi, 1, p. xxxvii.

[10] William J. Thompson, ‘Mortality from influenza in Ireland’ Dublin Journal of Medical Sciences 4th Series 1 (1920), p. 174

[11]Patricia Marsh, ‘The Effect of the 1918-19 Influenza Pandemic on Belfast’, ( M.A. thesis, Queens University Belfast, 2006), p.42

[12]IdaMilne, ‘Epidemic or Myth?: The 1918 Flu in Ireland’. (M.A. thesis, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, 2005), p. 35.

[13] Patricia Marsh, ‘The effect of the 1918-19 influenza pandemic on Ulster (PhD dissertation, Queen’s University Belfast, 2010), pp 42-57.

[14] United States Navy Department, Annual report of the Secretary of the Navy, Miscellaneous reports (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1919), pp. 2423-4.

[15]Annual report of the Local Government Board for Ireland for year ended 31 March 1919, p. xxxvii.

[16]Belfast Evening Telegraph, 11 June 1918; Belfast News-Letter, 12 June 1918.

[17] Marsh, ‘The effect of the 1918-19 influenza pandemic on Ulster, p, 67

[18]Irish Times, 1 Oct. 1918; Irish Independent, 1 Oct. 1918.

[19]Larne Board of Guardians Meeting, 9 Oct 1918 (P.R.O.N.I, Larne union minute book 1918, BG/17/A/132)

[20]Belfast News-Letter, 30 Oct. 1918.

[21] Fifty-fifth detailed annual report of the Registrar-General (Ireland), pp. v.

[22]Irish Independent, 5 Feb. 1919.

[23]Holywood Public Health Committee meeting, 6 Feb 1919 (P.R.O.N.I., Holywood Urban District Council minutes, LA/38/9AA/3)

[24]Belfast Board of Guardians meeting, 18 Feb. 1919 (P.R.O.N.I., Belfast Union minutes, BG/7/A/101).

[25]Andrew Noymer and Michel Garenne, ‘The 1918 influenza epidemic’s effects on sex differentials in mortality in the United States’, in Population and Development Review, 26:3 (2000), pp. 566-67.

[26] Herbert French, ‘The clinical features of the influenza epidemic 1918-19,’ pp. 90-1.

[27] Niall Johnson, Britain and the 1918-19 influenza pandemic: A dark epilogue, (London/New York, 2006), p. 84.

[28] Thompson, ‘Mortality from influenza in Ireland’, p. 183.

[29]Fifty-sixth detailed annual report of the Registrar-General (Ireland), p. xvi.

[30] Mortality figures calculated from Fifty-fifth detailed annual report of the Registrar-General (Ireland), p xvi and Fifty-sixth detailed annual report of the Registrar-General (Ireland), p. Xvii

[31] Ruth Barrington, Health, medicine and politics in Ireland 1900-1970 (Dublin, 1987), p. 75.

[32] Christopher Langford, ‘The age pattern of mortality in the 1918-19 influenza pandemic: An attempted explanation based on data for England and Wales’, in Medical History, 46 (2002), p. 15. Ann H. Reid, Jeffery K. Taubenberger, Thomas G. Fanning, ‘The 1918 Spanish influenza: Integrating history and biology’, in Microbes and Infection,3 (2001), p. 83.

[33] Johnson, Britain and the 1918-19 influenza Pandemic, p. 88.

[34]Reid, Taugenberger and Fanning, ‘The 1918 Spanish influenza’, p. 83.

[35] Kerri Smith, ‘Concern as revived 1918 flu virus kills monkeys’, in Nature, 445 (18 Jan. 2007), p. 23.