10th Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (British Army)
Died:
01/07/1916 (Killed in Action)
Age:
18
Summary
Robert Somerville was the son of Robert and Nellie Sommerville. Robert was born in Ayr, Scotland about 1898. The 1911 census shows the family had moved to Derrygortrevy, Dungannon. Robert was 13 and still at school. Robert Somerville enlisted in Donegal. Private Robert Somerville was serving with the 9th/10th Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers when he was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, aged 18 years old.
Further Information
Robert Somerville was the son of Robert and Nellie Sommerville. Robert was born in Ayr, Scotland about 1898.
The 1901 census records Robert as 2 years old. He and the family were boarding with the Shearer family at 3 Ponsonby Avenue, Duncairn Ward, Belfast. The family had recently moved from Scotland. Robert’s father was as a tailor’s cutter.
The 1911 census shows the family had moved to Derrygortrevy, Dungannon. Robert was 13 and still at school. Derrygortrevy is a district parish in the barony of Dungannon. It is three miles (S. W. By S.) from Dungannon, on the road to Aughnacloy.
Family: Robert Somerville, Helen Somerville, John Somerville (born about 1895), Robert Somerville (born about 1898), James Somerville (born about 1904), Esther Somerville (born about 1910). All the family were born in Scotland.
Robert Somerville had lived in Enfield Street (presumably in Portstewart) for a time and had been a member of the Coleraine U.V.F.
1915
Robert Somerville enlisted in Donegal.
From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 27th November 1915: Corporal Doonan Meets Friends at the Front
Lance Corporal Fed J Doonan, of the 9th Tyrone Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, writing to his mother Mrs Doonan, Dungannon says:-
1916
From the Belfast Newsletter dated 3rd January 1916:
Lance Corporal R Somerville, of the 10th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (Londonderry U.V.F.), has intimated to his brother, Mr J Somerville, Dungannon, that he is in No. 9 Stationary Hospital, Le Harve, suffering from a shrapnel wound to the right knee. Prior to the outbreak of war, he was employed by Miss Lyle, Laurel Hill, Coleraine.
From the Belfast Newsletter dated 8th January 1916:
Lance Corporal Robert Somerville, 10th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (Derry Volunteers), has intimated to his brother, Mr J Somerville, Dungannon, that he is in No. 9 Stationary Hospital, Le Harve, suffering from a shrapnel wound. Prior to the outbreak of war, he was employed by Miss Lyle, Laurel Hill, Coleraine. He was a member of the local unit of the U.V.F. He is a son of Mr R Somerville, formerly of Messrs. T D McCready and Co., Bridge Street. Coleraine.
From the Belfast Newsletter dated 13th January 1916:
Lance Corporal R Somerville, 10th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (Derry Volunteers), is at present in No. 9 Stationary Hospital, Le Harve. He is not suffering from a shrapnel wound, as was previously stated.
Private Robert Somerville was serving with the 9th/10th Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers when he was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, aged 18 years old.
From the Mid Ulster Mail dated Saturday 23rd September 1916:
Private Robert Somerville, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, who is officially reported wounded and missing, is a younger brother of Mt Jack Somerville, Market Square, Dungannon, and formerly resided in that town. He volunteered from Coleraine, where he had been an efficient member of the U.V.F.
Memorials
Unusually for those killed that day, Robert has a grave. He is buried across the road from the Thiepval Memorial in Connaught Cemetery.
The CWGC record Private Robert Somerville as the son of Robert and Nellie Somerville of Coleraine, County Londonderry. They may have been living at Enfield Terrace.
