CAPTAIN 1st/6th BATTALION NORTHUMBERLAND FUSILIERS, D.S.O.
Situated in the Unconsecrated/East Section of Jesmond Old Cemetery.
Captain Roy Craig Dunford. D.S.O.
Roy Craig Dunford was born on the 7th June 1881, one of 6 children born to Charles George Dunford and his wife Barbara Jane Craig.
In 1891, we find the family living at 108, Ryehill, Elswick, where Charles is listed as being an Indian Rubber and Leather Merchant. As well as Charles and Barbara, Ruby (11), Roy (9), Ruth (8), Charles (5) and Jean (2) are also recorded as living there, along with three servants. Charles died suddenly in October 1893 and is buried in Jesmond Old Cemetery.
Come the 1901 Census and Ruby, Roy, Ruth and Jean are living with their mother, Barbara, at 25, Victoria Square, Jesmond. Roy’s younger brother, Charles, was a pupil at the Friary in Richmond. Roy, by this time aged 19, is recorded as being an ‘articled clerk to a chartered accountant’.
In the Morpeth Herald, dated Saturday, July 25th, 1903, we read that the 22 year old Roy made the headlines…..!!!
NEGLECTFUL CYCLISTS
Roy Craig Dunford, articled clerk, Alnmouth, was summoned for riding a bicycle and not giving audible and sufficient warning when overtaking and passing foot passengers on the highway between Radcliffe and Togston, on the 11th inst. – P.C. Purvis gave evidence. A letter was put in from the accused, in defence, stating that he was riding along the left side of the road, when he came up to the constable, who was walking along with two other two men. The road was perfectly clear in front, there being plenty of room to pass, and under the circumstances he did not think it necessary to give warning. Just as he was about to pass, the man on the constable’s left had evidently heard him, and stepped to the left, consequently coming near his bicycle. The reason why he did not ring his bell was because the road was perfectly clear in front of him. P.C. Purvis stated that when he spoke to the accused, the latter said he did not know he had to give any warning. A fine of 5/- including costs was inflicted.
In the 1911 Census, the family are now living at 54, Saint Nicholas Chambers, Newcastle, with Roy being recorded as ‘Head’ of the family and employed as a ‘Chartered Accountant’. Ruby, Ruth and Jean are all recorded as being ‘single’. Younger brother Charles died in June 1907, with their mother, Barbara, dying in January 1911. Both are buried alongside Charles and another brother who died in infancy.
As well as two servants being recorded in this Census, there is also a Helen Walker Chalmers recorded as being a ‘visitor’. Roy and Helen marry on the 5th June of that year at Wardie United Free Church, Leith, Midlothian, and a son, Charles Roy is born the following year. Charles Roy grows up to be a Chartered Accountant like his Father and marries a Joyce Ellen at St. Paul’s Church, Portman Square, London in 1938. He died in 1997, aged 84.
The Newcastle Daily Journal, dated Monday, 13th of November, 1916 announced in their Roll of Honour section that:
The late Captain Roy Craig Dunford D.S.0.
The late Captain Dunford was well known in commercial and social circles in Newcastle. He was 35 years of age and was the elder son of the late Mr. Charles George Dunford, Partner in the Dean Street firm of John Taylor and Co., Indian rubber and leather manufacturers and merchants. Captain Dunford was educated at Richmond Grammar School. On leaving he was articled to Messrs J. M. Winter and Sons, chartered accountants of this city, and after qualifying commenced to practice on his own account in 1904 at Saint Nicholas Chambers. The deceased officer was secretary of Messrs, John Taylor, Dunford and Co. Ltd., the Jesmond Hotels Ltd., and other companies. He was an old volunteer, and at the commencement of the war offered his services and obtained a commission in the Northumberland Fusiliers.
He went out to France in May, 1915, and was wounded slightly in that year, returning to the front in January last. In September of this year he was severely wounded in the spine, doing work of exceptional bravery bravery and ability on the day in question, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. He succumbed to the wound on Friday, in Lady Ridley‘s Nursing Home, London, where he been had been lying for some weeks past. Captain Dunford married Miss Nell Chalmers, daughter of Mr. E Chalmers, Bonnington, Leith and is survived by his widow and one little son.
Captain Dunford died on 10th November 1916 and on Wednesday, November 15th, 1916, the Newcastle Journal reports that:
Second – Lieutenant (temporary Captain) Roy Craig Dunford, Northumberland Fusiliers, was appointed by His Majesty the King to be a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order in recognition of his gallantry and devotion to duty in the field. For three days prior to an attack, he directed the digging of assault trenches under heavy shell fire. During the attack, his personal direction of his company resulted in heavy losses to the enemy and the capture of 150 prisoners. Finally, he was shot through the body whilst organising his defences.
His Death Certificate states cause of death as ‘Gun Shot Wound to the spine, Paraplegia and Uraemia’.
Roy’s obituary in The Newcastle Daily Journal, dated Wednesday, November 16th, 1916 reads:
The funeral of the late captain Roy Craig Dunford D.S.O. Northumberland Fusiliers, a well-known local chartered accountant, who resided at Granville Gardens, Newcastle, and who died at Lady Ridley’s Nursing Home, London, from wounds sustained in action, took place yesterday at Jesmond Cemetery, Newcastle, with full military honours. The cortège was formed at the Central Railway Station, and, headed by band of the Northumberland Fusiliers, proceeded direct to the cemetery. The coffin, which was covered with Union Jack, was borne on an artillery gun carriage, drawn by six horses, and was escorted by a firing party. The service at the graveside, which was surrounded by a numerous assembly of mourners, was conducted by the Reverend G.D. Oakley, vicar of Jesmond.
The underbearers were Captain D.F. Bell, Lieutenant K.M. Drummond, Lieutenant T. Sopwith, Lieutenant . G.M. Hutchinson, Lieutenant R.E.Turnbull and Lieutenant H Waugh all of Northumberland Fusiliers.
Many beautiful floral tributes were placed on the grave, amongst them being tokens of regret from the officers of several battalions of the N.F., the Directors of the Jesmond Hotels, Ltd., the Directors of the Whitley Bay and District Laundry, the employees of Messrs. Taylor, Dunford and Company, and the Golfer’s Lodge of Freemasons.
The announcement goes on to list the many people who attended the graveside, with one of the underbearers being named as Kearsley Mathwin Drummond, who became Captain of the Northumberland Fusiliers. Kearsley is commemorated on his family grave in Jesmond Old Cemetery, having fallen in battle on the 24th March 1918. He is buried in Rosieres British Cemetery France. He was awarded the Military Cross.