L/Cpl 48423 Arthur McDonald

• Age: 42
• From: Liverpool
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 20th Btn
• Died Saturday 4th August 1917
• Commemorated at: Reninghelst New Mil Cemetery
  Panel Ref: III.C.13

Arthur McDonald was born in 1875 in Liverpool and resided in Dundalk, Ireland. He was the son of Joseph and Sarah McDonald.

He was the husband of Sarah McDonald, of 65, Dove St, Lodge Lane, Liverpool. Sarah was born 18^th September 1884 and they had three children; Dedes Meriganis (step child) born 04^th September 1906, Arthur born 04^th September 1914 and Thomas born 02^nd August 1916.

The Liverpool Electoral Roll picks them up at 19 Hodges Mount, Toxteth from 1911-14 and then in 1915 at the adjoining house 49 Dovey St.

The 1914 Gores entry is at 19 Hodges Mount - MacDonald Arthur shipwright

He enlisted in Liverpool and was serving in the 20th Battalion (C Company), The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Lance Corporal No 48423 when he died on the 04th August, 1917 aged 42 of a cerebral haemorrhage.

He now rests at Reninghelst New Military Cemetery, Belgium. The Inscription on his headstone reads:

“GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN BY HIS LOVING WIFE CHILDREN & MOTHER”

The village of Reninghelst (now Reningelst) was occupied by Commonwealth forces from the late autumn of 1914 to the end of the war and was sufficiently far from the front line to provide a suitable station for field ambulances. The earliest burials took place in the Churchyard, but in November 1915, the New Military Cemetery was opened. It remained in use until September 1918. There are now 798 Commonwealth burials of the First World War in the cemetery. The cemetery was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield.

Liverpool Daily Post 15th Sept 1917

DIED

King's (Liverpool Regiment) - M'Donald, 48423, A.

Soldiers Effects to widow Sarah, Pension to widow Sarah Jane and children  Arthur and Thomas, and step-child Dedes Marganis (Merizanis on birth reg.)

Probate 26^th March 1918; McDonald Arthur of 65 Dove Street, Liverpool private 20^th battalion K.L.R. died 4 August 1917 in France Administration (with will)Liverpool 26March to Sarah Jane McDonald widow. Effects £122 13s 8d.  

Arthur is commemorated in the book, "Clan Donald Roll of Honour 1914-1918" (as McAlister).  

The dedication reads, 

"At the Call of Duty from the Four Corners of the Earth Came the Children of the Clan to Battle for the Right.

In many graves in many lands their gallant bodies sleep. Their spirits rest with God.

To their loved ones, bereaved of them, this Roll proclaims the price the Clan hath paid.  

A token it is also, bringing pride to lighten grief for lives so well laid down.

For this we know:  They yet shall live again."

The 1921 census is the anchor document for discovering the identity of widow Sarah J. :- At 65 Dove St, Lodge Lane, she is with the Welsh family, this is her maiden name.

In 1901 she is living with her parents James T. and Mary J.Welsh at 4 Mason St, Edge Hill. She is a 16 year old domestic servant born in Garston. Her 70 year old grandmother Mary Moffit is also living there.

She married on the 7th Feb 1906 at St Mary's, Edge Hill to 24 year old Vasilios McGinnes, a farmer, father George McGinnes, a ships rigger. Their address 45 Sidney Place, Edge Hill.

A previous marriage record in 1904 highlights the real family record for Vasilios. A Gkicas Merizanis, a 25 year old fish dealer of Rose Hill, has a father George Merizanis, a rigger.

Vasilios disappears from her life and by 1911 is back with her parents at 45 Sidney Place, Edge Hill. Although she declares being married with 1 child, this is crossed out, but 4 year old Dedes McGuinnes is on the return.

She remarries in 1914 to Arthur McDonald.

Sarah remarried again in 1923 to Frederick Bower and they had 3 more children, she appears on the 1939 register, dob 18th Aug 1884, at 23 Underley St, Edge Hill. Sarah died in 1967 aged 82

We currently have no further information on Arthur McDonald, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.