Who are the library men of WW1?

Who were the library men?

'The library men’ were 11 members of staff from Belfast Public Libraries who enlisted
in various regiments of the British Army during WW1.

Between 1914 and 1919 over 200 letters were exchanged between these men
and the Chief Librarian. The letters were written as a condition of employment, in order
to receive the half-pay that Belfast Public Libraries continued to pay to their staff during
war service.

The voices of ordinary men

Through the unique collection of letters 'the library men' have given us their own
individual accounts of the Great War, beginning with life in the training camps,
the brutal reality of trench warfare right through to demobilisation and eventual
return to civilian life.

Read the letters >>

What we know – in brief

Name	Born	Where they lived in the years before the war	Library
Robert James Alexander	Belfast	Edinburgh Street off the Lisburn Road	Lending Department, Belfast Central Library
William Brown killed in action	Belfast	Lichfield Avenue, off the Bloomfield Road	Lending Department, Belfast Central Library
Matthew Butler	Belfast	Dunstan Street, Springfield Road area, later Pisa Street, Grosvenor Road area.	Falls Road Branch Library
Thomas Coulson	South Shields, England	Springfield Parade, off the Springfield Road. During the war his pay goes to his sister in England and he doesn’t appear to come back to or have a link with Belfast again	Branch Manager Falls Road Branch Library
Joseph Frederick Eagleson	Belfast	Greenville Road, off the Upper Beersbridge Road	Donegal Road Branch Library
Joseph Fitzsimons	Ballycastle	Clonard Gardens, near the Springfield Road/Falls Road	Lending Department, Belfast Central Library
Samuel Freeland	Belfast	Meadowbank Street, off the Lisburn Road	Museum and Art Gallery in Belfast Central Library
John McCausland	Dungannon (family where originally from Dunmullan, near Omagh)	Moorfield Street, off Ravenscroft Avenue.	Lending Department, Belfast Central Library
Patrick O’Rourke	Co. Monaghan	Clonard Gardens, near the Springfield Road/Falls Road	Belfast Central Library
Alexander Stewart Roy	Belfast	Canning Street, near North Queen Street	Oldpark Branch Library
Matthew Augustine Warren	Belfast	River Terrace, near the Ormeau Road	Ballymacarrett Branch Library

Chief Librarians

Name	Born	Where they lived in the years before the war
George Hall Elliott	Newcastle-upon-Tyne	Holywood
John Bewick Goldsbrough	Newcastle-upon-Tyne	Fitzwilliam Street, off Lisburn Road

If you can supply any information about these men please email feedback@librariesni.org.uk

If you can supply any information
about these men please email feedback@librariesni.org.uk