Joseph Dobson Burns
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Joseph Dobson Burns was born on 24th October 1883 at Portobello, Edinburgh and was the son of Joseph a colliery agent and Helen Anne Burns née Dobson. His father Joseph was born in 1858 at Linlithgow and his mother Helen Anne Dobson was born in 1857 at Inverness , they were married and went on to have the following children, Joseph Dobson b1884, George Thomas Abercromby b1889, James Henry Lawrence b1890, and Jesse b1892. Joseph Dobson Burns married his wife Mary Cant Burns, they lived at 2, Denwick Terrace, Tynemouth, Northumberland. His probate was proven on 30th August 1918 at Newcastle Upon Tyne and shows him as the Reverend Joseph Dobson Burns of 52 Park Crescent, North Shields, clerk, temporary chaplain to the Forces, died 7th June 1918 in France or Belgium, his effects of £207, 15 shillings and 10 pence were left to Mary Cant Burns, widow.
The Reverend Joseph Dobson Burns was a chaplin to the Forces, and was attached to the 12th Brigade Royal Garrison Artillery. He landed in France on 29th August 1917 and was killed by a shell splinter wound at he back of his head. He is buried at Ebblinghem Military Cemetery, France.
Article published on 12th June 1918 in the Newark Advertiser :- Son of Joseph & Helen Burns. Husband of Mary C. Burns, 5 Denwick Terrace, Tynemouth, Northumberland. Came to Newark in Sept.1910 as pastor of London Road Congregationalist Church. Regarded as an exceptional preacher, he was prominently identified with several organisations in the town who aimed at social improvement. Felt that as many of his congregation were in France, his place was with them. Accepted as a chaplain, he gave his farewell sermon on the last Sunday in Aug. 1917. Had gone to a Field Dressing Station to enquire about several men who had been gassed. A few minutes after leaving, was brought back with a head wound caused by a shell splinter. Immediately sent to a hospital, but died shortly after arriving, without regaining consciousness.
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