9th Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (British Army)
Date Of Birth:
05/12/1886
Died:
25/04/1918 (Died of Wounds)
Age:
31
Summary
Robert Orr was the son of Alexander and Mary Orr. He was born at Drumglass, Dungannon on 5th December 1886. Robert was one of 14 children. The 1901 census records Robert as age 14. He was working as a linen weaver. Robert was living with the family in Moygashel, Tyrone. Robert married Martha Jane Liggett in November 1904. They had four children. Newspaper reports suggest he wounded on the first day of the German offensive, which would have been 21st March 1918. Private Robert Orr was serving with the 9th Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers when he died from wounds received in action a month earlier on Thursday 25th April 1918.
Further Information
Robert Orr was the son of Alexander and Mary Orr. Alexander Orr married Mary Cullen on 9th March 1880 in the district of Dungannon.
Robert Orr was born at Drumglass, Dungannon on 5th December 1886. Robert was one of 14 children, 12 surviving.
Family 1: Alexander Orr, Mary Orr, Alexander Orr (born about 1880), William Orr (born 11th May 1881), Mary Orr (born 28th April 1882, died 2nd July 1882), Eliza Lizzie Orr (born 13th July 1883), Maria Orr (born 22nd January 1885), Robert Orr (born 5th December 1886), Margaret Orr (born 3rd December 1888), Mary Annie Orr (born 29th July 1890), Martha Orr (born 25th May 1892), Sarah Orr (born 26th December 1893), Rachel Orr (born 22nd March 1895), Thomas Orr (born 23rd November 1896), Eleanor Nelly Orr (born 18th October 1898), Ethel Orr (born 28th January 1901). Alexander and William may well be the same person.
The 1901 census records Robert as age 14. He was working as a linen weaver. Robert was living with the family at Moygashel Town, Bernagh, Tyrone.
Robert married Martha Jane Liggett on 25th November 1904 in the district of Dungannon. Interestingly, eighteen months earlier, William Orr had married Sarah Liggett on 6th June 1902 in the district of Dungannon. It is not known if this was a case of two brothers marrying two sisters.
Robert and Martha’s family: Robert Orr, Martha Jane Orr, Robert Orr (born 2nd February 1905)
James Orr (born 16th July 1906), William Orr (born 13th May 1909), Alexander Orr (born 30th October 1910).
There was also a George Orr, born on 17th May 1912, but it is not known which family he belonged to.
The 1911 census lists Robert as age 25, living his wife and family at house 23 in Moygashel Town, Dungannon, County Tyrone. Robert was a factory worker and Martha was a linen weaver.
Robert Orr enlisted in Dungannon with the 9th Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.
1916
From the Tyrone Courier dated 17th February 1916: Thomas Orr (brother of Robert Orr)
The following local soldiers have also arrived home in Dungannon on short furlough:- Corporal John Bell, Irish Guards; Private David Sandes, 6th Inniskillings (invalided owing to an attack of dysentery contracted at the Dardanelles); and Private Thomas Orr, Moygashel, 9th Inniskillings.
From the Mid Ulster Mail dated Saturday 8th July 1916: Cookstown Soldiers Wounded in Big Push (brother of Robert Orr)
Rifleman Thomas Orr, R.I.R., son of Mr Alex. Orr, Moygashel, Dungannon.
From the Tyrone Courier dated 13 July 1916: Thomas Orr (brother of Robert Orr)
Rifleman Thomas Orr (wounded), Tyrone Volunteers, is the son of Mr Alexander Orr, Moygashel. Orr, who was shot in both hands, was an energetic U.V.F. man and member of the local Orange lodge. He is one of several brothers serving.
From the Mid Ulster Mail dated Saturday 15th July 1916: Thomas Orr (brother of Robert Orr)
Rifleman Thomas Orr (wounded), 9th Inniskillings, has been wounded in both hands at the front. He is the youngest son of Mr Alexander Orr, senior, Moygashel. Orr, and was an energetic U.V.F. man and a member of the Moygashel L.O.L. 708.
1917
From the Tyrone Courier dated 19th July 1917: (Alexander Orr - brother of Robert Orr)
Private A Orr, Moygashel, is officially reported wounded.
1918
From the Tyrone Courier and Dungannon News dated Thursday 4 April 1918: (brother of Robert Orr)
The following men of the Inniskillings from Dungannon district are reported wounded:- Private Thomas Orr, son of Mr A Orr senior, Moygashel; Private Robert Wigton, Cavan, Killyman, Private Samuel Stafford, Broughadoey, Moy; Private William Nixon, Royal Irish Fusiliers, Perry Street, Dungannon (late Inniskilling Dragoon); Private G Hodgett, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.
Newspaper reports suggest he wounded on the first day of the German offensive, which would have been 21st March 1918.
Private Robert Orr was serving with the 9th Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers when he died from wounds received in action a month earlier on Thursday 25th April 1918.
From the Tyrone Courier and Dungannon News dated Thursday 9 May 1918:
Private Robert Orr, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, who succumbed on 25th April 1918 to wounds received in action on the first day of the German offensive, leaves a wife and four children residing at Moygashel, Dungannon. He was also one of three soldier sons of Mr Alexander Orr, Moygashel.
From the Tyrone Courier and Dungannon News dated Thursday 9 May 1918: (brother of Robert Orr)
Private Thomas Orr, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, who sustained a gunshot wound in the ankle on 18th March, is one of three soldier sons of Mr Alexander Orr, Moygashel, Dungannon.
Private Robert Orr is buried in Haringhe (Bandaghem) Military Cemetery, Belgium.
The cemetery site for Haringhe was chosen in July 1917 for the 62nd and 63rd Casualty Clearing Stations and burials from these and other hospitals (notably the 36th Casualty Clearing Station in 1918) continued until October 1918. The cemetery contains 772 Commonwealth burials of the First World War.
Robert’s brother Thomas Orr also served during the war, with the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. Thomas was injured several times, but survived the war.
Another brother, Alexander Orr, also served.
The CWGC record Private Robert Orr as the son of Alexander and Mary Orr of Moygashel. He is also recorded as the husband of Martha J Orr of Moygashel, Dungannon, Co. Tyrone.
