Private Samuel Dornan
Samuel Dornan was born on 6 August 1894 at Skerry East, Newtown Crommelin, County Antrim, the second of four children of farmer Robert Dornan and his wife Margaret (née Walker). At the time of the 1911 Census he was living at Newtown Crommelin with his parents and two surviving siblings, and working on the family farm. Between 1911 and early 1917 he moved to Scotland, where he worked as a coal miner.
Dornan enlisted at Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, on 3 May 1917. He was described as being 5' 6" tall with a pale complexion, dark brown hair, and a scar beneath his right groin.
Between 23 and 26 June 1917 he was posted to the North Irish Horse (No.2529). He was reported to have deserted from the regiment's reserve base at Antrim on 6 August 1917. It is not known if he was subsequentially apprehended.
After the war Dornan returned to farming in County Antrim. On 14 February he married Charlotte Weir in the First Presbyterian Church, Ahoghill. Soon after they moved to Scotland. At the time of the 1921 Census they were living at 12 Robert Street, Shotts, Calderhead, North Lanark, with their first child Robert, Samuel working as a coal miner for the Shotts Iron Company. By 1961 he was living at 2 Pleasance Row, Wilsontown, Forth, having retired from coal mining. He died on 20 August in the Law Hospital, Carluke.
This page last updated 12 February 2024.