Private Samuel McMinn
The only evidence of this man's military service discovered to date is contained in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland's Roll of Honour: 1914-1919, which states that he served as a Trooper in the North Irish Horse, lived in Newtownbreda, County Down, and was a member of the Castlereagh Congregation, Belfast.
Samuel Wylie McMinn was born on 19 February 1894 at Newtownbreda, the first of four children of brushmaker William John McMinn and his wife Jane (née Wylie). At the time of the 1911 Census he was living at Newtownbreda with his parents, three siblings, a half-sister and a grandmother, and was working as an apprentice. His father died in 1913 and his mother five years later.
The date of his enlistment is not known, and there is no record that he served overseas, although the PCI Roll of Honour states that he was wounded.
On 1 September 1921 he married Mary Wilson Patterson in the Castlereagh Presbyterian Church, County Down. At the time he was living at Parkview, Newtownbreda, and was working as a merchant.
A report in the Ballymena Weekly Telegraph of 11 August 1928 stated that he had been badly injured in a motor-cycle accident (see article below).
McMinn's younger brother William John also served in the war, in the 14th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles (No.6401). He was killed in action in Belgium on 24 November 1916.
This page last updated 23 July 2025.