Friends of the Somme - Mid Ulster Branch  
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Date Information
23/03/2021 They went on to settle in Ruapuna, on the South Island of New Zealand. Ruapuna was a farming locality on the Canterbury Plains, 37 kilometres west of Ashburton.
23/03/2021 Robert John Glassey was the son of Robert Burns and Susan Glassey. Robert Burns Glassey and Susan Boyd were married on 1st September 1885 in Glenhoy, County Tyrone.
23/03/2021 Robert Glassey was born on 1st May 1895 in Claremore, Clogher, County Tyrone.
23/03/2021 The 1901 census records Robert John as 6 years old. His father was a farmer. The family lived in Clare More, Cecil, Tyrone.
23/03/2021 The family emigrated to New Zealand in 1901. New Zealand Passenger Lists record the family as arriving Wellington between October and December 1901 on the SS Papanui.
23/03/2021 The CWGC record Private Robert John Glassey as the brother of William Glassey of Pahiatua.
23/03/2021 Prior to enlisting, Robert was a labourer, working a Fred Orchard. He was living in Opotiki on the north coast of the North Island of New Zealand.
23/03/2021 Robert Glassey enlisted in Opotiki with the Otago Regiment, of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (N.Z.E.F.) on 2nd November 1914 (CHECK)
23/03/2021 Private Robert John Glassey has no known grave and is commemorated on the Chunuk Bair (New Zealand) Memorial at Gallipoli in Turkey.
23/03/2021 Known family: Robert Burns Glassey, Susan Glassey, William Glassey (born 24th June 1886), James Glassey (born 14th November 1887), Thomas Glassey (born 27th August 1889), Mary Dorcas Glassey (born 10th August 1891), Sarah Jane Glassey (born 17th February 1893), Robert John Glassey (born 1st May 1895), Joseph Alexander Glassey (born 17th January 1897), Andrew Glassey (born 17th April 1899), George Glassey (born 4th July 1901).
23/03/2021 Private Robert John Glassey is commemorated on Ashburton WWI War Memorial in Canterbury, New Zealand.
23/03/2021 Robert lists his brother and sister as his next of kin.
23/03/2021 Private Glassey’ plaque and scroll went to his eldest brother, William, who was by then living in Pahiatua on the North Island.
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30/12/2015 Private Robert John Glassey was wounded in action during the August Offensive. He died of his wounds on 9th August 1915 at Gallipoli, Turkey. He was 20 years old.
30/12/2015 Robert lists his next of kin as his younger sister, Miss Mary Glassey of Ruapuna, Canterbury, New Zealand.
30/12/2015 Three other Glassey brothers enlisted. Joseph Alexander (62959), Thomas Moore (34662) and James (6/3329). James Glassey married Clara Conway after the war in 1919 and died in 1975 at age 88. Thomas Moore Glassey died on 10 Sep 1957 in Ashburton, Canterbury, New Zealand at age 68. Joseph Alexander Glassey married Gertrude Annett in 1925 and died on 30 Dec 1979 in Palmerston, Otago, New Zealand at age 82.
30/12/2015 Private Robert John Glassey is commemorated on Ashburton War Memorial, Canterbury in New Zealand. His name is listed on Panel 1 (WW1).
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30/12/2015 Private Glassey was part of the third draft of reinforcements which left Wellington on 14 February 1915. The ship arrived in Suez, Egypt on 26 March 1915.
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