18/1576 Rifleman William George Swain
8th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles
7th June 1917
Born in Aghalee,County Antrim,Northern Ireland in 1894.
His parents were George Swain (born in 1851) and Annie Conway(1870-1900),They were married in 1888.
He had 1 brother,Richard(born in 1892) and 2 sisters
Annie Jane(born in 1889) and Florence Edith Minnie
(born 18/03/1898).
When his mother died in 1900,his father remarried in 1901 to Sarah Irvine (born in 1852) and she had a son,Samuel
(born in 1890).
In the Irish census taken on 02/04/1911,the family were recorded as living in Maghaberry,Maheramesk,Co.Antrim.
William was employed as a farm servant and his father was
an agricultural labourer.
William enlisted in Belfast and was killed in action on 07/06/1917.
​
It is worth noting that his headstone records him as being aged 20 at the time of his death ,but birth records for the area he was born in only show a birth for a William George G Swain in 1894.