Friends of the Somme - Mid Ulster Branch  
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22850   Sergeant Joseph Porter
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Dated added: 30/12/2015   Last updated: 07/11/2021
Personal Details
Regiment/Service: 7th Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (British Army)
Date Of Birth: 06/06/1896
Died: 06/09/1916 (Killed in Action)
Age: 20
Summary      
Joseph Porter was the only son of Samuel and Isabella Porter. He was born on 6th June 1895. He was one of seven children, all born in the Fivemiletown area. Joseph’s father died on 7th February 1899. Joseph would have been three years old. The family lived at Aghintain, between Clogher and Fivemiletown, By 1911 the family had moved to Belfast. Joseph had left school and was working as a labourer in a brick works. Sergeant Joseph Porter was serving with the 7th Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers when he was killed in action in the Somme region on 6th September 1916.
Further Information
Joseph Porter was the only son of Samuel and Isabella Porter. Samuel Porter and Isabella Keys were married on 9th August 1884 in the district of Fermanagh.
Joseph Porter was born on 6th June 1895 in Fivemiletown. He was one of seven children, five surviving, all born in the Fivemiletown area.
Family: Samuel Porter, Isabella Porter, Mary Porter (born 10th May 1885, died 29th August 1894, age 10), Margaret Porter (born 2nd December 1886), Anne Porter (born 8th February 1889), Susan Porter (born 29th September 1891), Elizabeth Porter (born 27th May 1893), Joseph Porter (born 6th June 1895), May Porter (born about 1899).
Joseph’s father, Samuel Porter, died on 7th February 1899 in the Fivemiletown area. He was 42 years old. Joseph would have been three years old.
The 1901 census records the family living at Aghintain (between Clogher and Fivemiletown) in County Tyrone. Joseph was 5 years old. His mother was a widow and washerwoman.
By the time of the 1911 census the family were living in Wansbeck Street, Cromac, Antrim which is now in the Stranmillis area of Belfast. Joseph had left school and was working as a labourer in a brick works.
Joseph Porter enlisted in Belfast.
Medal card
Sergeant Joseph Porter was serving with the 7th Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers when he was killed in action in the Somme region on 6th September 1916.
In his will, he left all to his younger sister, May Porter, who was living at 5 Wansback Street, Belfast,
Last Will and Testament of Joseph Porter dated 4th August 1916:
In the event of my death, I leave the whole of my property and effects to my sister May Porter, 5 Wansback Street, Belfast, Ireland. Signed Joseph Porter Sergeant. 7th Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. Date 4th August 1916.
Sergeant Joseph Porter has no known grave has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme. The Thiepval Memorial, the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20th March 1918 and have no known grave. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916.
Sergeant Joseph Porter is commemorated locally on Fivemiletown War Memorial.
The CWGC record Sergeant Joseph Porter as the brother of Miss May Porter of Brockhaugh, Tempo, County Fermanagh.
Sergeant Joseph Porter is listed on page 42 of the Fivemiletown book, from which most of these details come from. Many thanks to Mark Byers for the information.
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Relevant Dungannon Area Locations
No Location Region Location Notes Longtitude Latitude
1 Aghintain Fivemiletown Census listing in Aghintain 54.40964 -7.26193
GRONI References
TYPE - B:Birth M:Marriage D:Death | GRONI | SIBLING: brother or sister | NOTES: spelling inconsistencies, etc.
Date Type Surname First name Relationship GRONI Ref Notes
09/08/1884 M Keys Isabella Parent M/1884/V1/1535/1/56b
09/08/1884 M Porter Samuel Parent M/1884/V1/1535/1/56a
10/05/1885 B Porter Mary Sibling U/1885/111/1026/6/390
02/12/1886 B Porter Margaret Sibling U/1886/111/1026/7/6
08/02/1889 B Porter Anna Sibling U/1889/111/1026/7/190
29/09/1891 B Porter Susan Sibling U/1891/111/1026/7/391
27/05/1893 B Porter Lizzie Sibling U/1893/111/1026/8/8
29/08/1894 B Porter Mary Sibling D/1894/111/1026/6/74 died age 10
06/06/1895 B Porter Joseph Casualty U/1895/111/1026/8/164
07/02/1899 B Porter Samuel Parent D/1899/111/1026/6/300 died age 42
References and Links
No Link Reference Map Doc
1 1901 Census lists Porter Family Lists Joseph as age 5 living with the family at house 2 in Aghintain, Tyrone
2 1911 Census lists Porter Family Lists Joseph as age 15 living with the family at house 9 in Wansbeck Street, Cromac, Antrim
3 Family Tree List Samuel as Joseph's Father.
4 National Archives of Ireland Last Will and Testament of Joseph Porter
5 National Archives UK Medal Card can be purchased here
Dungannon District's War Dead Acknowledgements 2015-2023