Friends of the Somme - Mid Ulster Branch  
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Date Information
01/05/2021 Private John Stanley Hamilton is commemorated locally on Dungannon War Memorial.
01/05/2021 Private John S Hamilton is buried in Etaples Military Cemetery in France.
01/05/2021 Private Hamilton arrived in France with the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers on 6th October 1915.
01/05/2021 The 1911 census lists John Stanley as age 20, living at house 1 in Lairakean, Caledon, Tyrone. He was a farm labourer for the Brown family.
05/06/2020 02777
30/12/2015 Castle Street Caledon 5th September 1917: Letter from Henry Mehaffy
30/12/2015 John Hamilton was raised by his aunt, Mrs Ellen Whitelock who lived in Caledon, County Tyrone.
30/12/2015 John Hamilton was a member of Caledon and District Branch of the Ulster Volunteers.
30/12/2015 John Hamilton enlisted at Finner Camp, Donegal.
30/12/2015 Private John Stanley Hamilton was serving with the 9th Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers when he was wounded in France.
30/12/2015 Private John S Hamilton died of wounds on the 1st August 1916.
30/12/2015 The CWGC records Private John Hamilton as the nephew of Mrs Ellen Whitelock of Lake View Cottage, Caledon, Co. Tyrone.
30/12/2015 John Hamilton did not leave a will, so the documentation leading to his aunt becoming the beneficiary follows:
30/12/2015 Lodge, Caledon, County Tyrone 7th September 1917: Letter from Sergeant A Irwin
30/12/2015
30/12/2015 John Stanley Hamilton was born Ballymena about 1891.
30/12/2015 'NB I rejoined the service with my rank of Sergeant and am discharges as Sergeant. I enclosed certificate from Mr H Mehaffy duly endorsed by Magistrate. Thomas H Shannon Justice of Peace, County Tyrone.'
30/12/2015
30/12/2015 'I, Henry Mehaffy, hereby certify that I was present on 3rd June 1915 when the late Private J S Hamilton, 9th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, Said to Sergeant A Irwin, 9th Welsh Regiment, ' I have made an allotment to Aunty Whitelock and should I go under, anything I possess will go to her as she has been a mother to me all my life. Henry Mehaffy, Castle Street Caledon.' Thomas H Shannon, Justice of the Peace, Co Tyrone, Ireland.
30/12/2015 Annacramp, Caledon, Co Tyrone, Ireland. 1st September 1917. Letter from Thomas H Shannon J.P.,
30/12/2015
30/12/2015 'I, Thomas H Shannon J.P., have read the statement that Sergeant Irwin has made as to Private Hamilton's effects and as I have known the said Mrs Whitelock and also the late Private Hamilton, I can certify that the statement Sergeant Irwin and Henry Mehaffy has made would be correct.'
30/12/2015 'Sir, In reply to your letter, form enclosed and attached. I beg to inform you. On the 3rd June 1915, I was on leave from my battalion prior to going to France. I met Private Hamilton, 9th Inniskilling Fusiliers, and a man call Henry Mehaffy outside the Ulster Volunteer Drill Hall, Caledon, Tyrone. We had some conversation together. (I may here state I was Drill instructor to Caledon and District Branch of the Ulster Volunteers and Private Hamilton was also a member. I rejoined my old regiment “the Welsh” on Kitchener's appeal for old N.C.O.'s as instructors for the new army. I was also instrumental in recruiting Hamilton and others to join the army.) As I was on the eve of returning off leave, I personally asked Private Hamilton if he had fixed things up, as he might be in France shortly after me. He replied 'I have given an allotment to Auntie Whitelock (Mrs E Whitelock) and if anything should happen and I go under, all I have or possess will be hers as she has been a good mother to me' and the only mother he ever knew, meaning that she reared him. I hope this statement is clear. I never saw Private Hamilton again and I have been discharged since July 1 as unfit for further war service (disablement, etc). A Irwin'
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