David's Story.
David's surname is spelt Conlan on the Stockport war memorial and, whilst one newspaper report of his death also spells it this way, the 1901 census and military records spell it as Conlon. The Census indicates that his parents were John Conlon, then aged 39 (a plumber) and Emma, also 39. Other children in the family were Ann (2), Margaret (6), Mary (14) and Peter (12). David was shown as being 18 and working as a Cotton Ring Spinner. The family were then living in Glossop, although David had been born in Stockport. By 1917, David had married and was living with his wife and three children at 30 Bann Street, Stockport. He was not an early recruit to the army and was possibly conscripted in 1916. After he was killed, his officer wrote to his wife "I can assure you that your loss is shared by all his officers and the men of his Company to whom he endeared himself as a keen soldier and good comrade. I hope that it may some slight consolation to you to know that your husband died fighting for his country and that his death was instantaneous."