Private James Barriskill
Number: 9514
Company: 54th (Belfast) Company, 13th Battalion, First Contingent
ENLISTMENT
Date: 10 January 1900
Place: Belfast
Age: 23 years stated on enlistment. (Born 30 October 1876 at Bessbrook, Newry, County Armagh.)
Trade or calling: Clerk
Place of birth: In the Parish of Bessbrook, in or near the Town of Newry, in the County of Armagh
Family: Single. Father John Barriskill, yarn presser, mother Elizabeth Barriskill (nee Moneypenny), of 81 Rugby Avenue, Belfast.
Previous military service: No
Description: Height 5' 7 1/4". Complexion fresh, eyes grey, hair black. Scar back left hand.
Religion: Church of England
ACTIVE SERVICE
Date to South Africa: 3 March 1900
Date home: 8 June 1901
Service medal, clasps and other awards: Queen's South Africa Medal. Cape Colony, Orange Free State, 1901 clasps.
DISCHARGE
Date: 15 June 1901
Place: Belfast
Reason for discharge: The termination of his engagement
Intended place of residence: 81 Rugby Avenue, Belfast
Conduct: Very good
Special qualifications: Good horseman and good horsemaster. A reliable man.
Barriskill was among the 400 men of the 13th Battalion captured by Boer forces at Lindley on 31 May 1900. He was released on 30 August with most of the other members of the battalion when the British captured Nooitgedacht.
A transcript of his diary, covering much of the time he served in the Imperial Yeomanry, can be seen here.
At the time of the 1911 Census he was living at 62 Newtownards Road, Upper, Belfast, with his parents and three of his five surviving siblings (of six), a brother-in-law and two nieces, and was working as a commercial clerk.
By 1967 he was living at 10 Dundela Gardens, Belfast, having retired from his work as a spirit merchant. He died there on 9 December and his remains were laid to rest in the Dundonald Cemetery.
Ulster Echo, 9 May 1900
Belfast News-Letter, 12 December 1967
Barriskill's cousin Thomas Leckey also served in the Imperial Yeomanry, in the 46th (Belfast) Company. He was killed at Lindley on 30 May 1900.
Cemetery image sourced from the Find-a-Grave site. Image of James Barriskill sourced from Ancestry.com Public Member Trees, contributor Sharon Erskine.
This page last updated 1 September 2026.