Private Charles Butler Ussher
Charles Butler Ussher was born on 27 April 1879 at Florence Villa, Lurgan, County Armagh, the fourth of six children of solicitor James Ussher and his wife Florence Sarah Eleanor (née Smyth). According to a later newspaper account, he "came from a military family, one of his grandfathers being Captain Richard Beverley Ussher, of the Grenadier Guards, and an uncle, Major-General John Ussher, served through the Indian Mutiny."
Ussher enlisted in the North Irish Horse on 3 or 4 September 1914 (No.1127 – later Corps of Hussars No.71242). On 1 May 1915 he embarked for France with D Squadron, which at the time was serving as divisional cavalry to the 51st Division.
In May 1916 D Squadron came together with A and E Squadrons to form the 1st North Irish Horse Regiment, serving as corps cavalry to VII, XIX, then V Corps until February-March 1918, when the regiment was dismounted and converted to a cyclist unit, serving as corps cyclists to V Corps until the end of the war.
Ussher remained with the regiment throughout the war. Records suggest that at some point he underwent officer training, but he was not commissioned. On 26 October 1917 he obtained leave from France in order to marry Eliza Greer at St Peter's Church of Ireland Parish Church, Dublin.
On 4 March 1919 Ussher was demobilised and transferred to Class Z, Army Reserve.
After the war he lived at Florence Villa, Gransha Road Bangor, working as a horticulturalist. His wife was tragically killed in an accident in 1936 (see article below).
Ussher died at Princetown Road, Bangor, on 28 April 1950.
Two of Ussher's brothers also served in the military during the war, one being William Albert Ussher, a Lieutenant-Commander in the Royal Navy Reserve.
The Northern Herald, 4 April 1936