On this day.
5th May 1914
Belfast Weekly Telegraph, Saturday, May 9, 1914, reported the wedding of Captain Holt Waring, a Battalion Commander with the South Belfast Volunteers. The report read:
"WELCOME TO CAPTAIN AND MRS. WARING.
JOYUS HOMECOMING.
CO. DOWN VILLAGE EN FETE.
NORTH IRISH HORSE AS ESCORT.
The picturesque little village of Waringstown was en fete on Tuesday in honour of the joyous occasion when Captain Holt Waring, D.L., returned to the ancestral seat of the family accompanied by his bride, nee Miss Margaret Parr, daughter of Mr. John Charlton Parr, D.L., of Staunton park, Herefordshire, to whom he was wedded last week. Never was there a brighter or more festive homecoming, and the spontaneity of the great demonstration of welcome which awaited the gallant Captain and his fair partner, into which nothing that was merely artificial or conventional entered, must have been genuinely touching to the happy couple upon whom the well-wishers of the entire village and countryside community where showered. The happy couple left London on Monday evening, travelling via Belfast, whence the journey to the historic home of the Warings was completed by motor. Lurgan provided a foretaste of the welcome which Waringstown was to display in lavish and whole-hearted fashion. At church place the Waringstown troop of a squadron of the North Irish Horse, which is commanded by the Captain, were drawn up under Sergeant-Major Blakeley, and made a glittering, imposing escort to the motor car, which reached that point at 10.30. a triumphal procession. Mr. Hugh Hayes and Mr. David Pedlow having extended a cordial welcome on behalf of the townspeople to captain and Mrs. Waring, the yeomanry wheeled into escort order and moved off on the closing stages of the journey, which are best described as in the nature of a triumphant procession. The inhabitants of town and country took occasion by the hand and imparted a distinct note of gaiety to the route, and with nature wearing the brightest garb of a glorious may morning nothing was out of harmony with the festive character of the happy occasion. If royalty itself had been coming to Waringstown the demonstration of welcome could not have been more cordial. Every point was prominently beflagged. Union jacks fluttered from every house and farmstead. The village from end to end was festooned with bunting, whose long lines were interspersed here and there with artistic archings in which were emblazoned in large letters of vivid colouring the one word that gave the keynote to the entire demonstration, “welcome.”
On the outskirts of the village, where the Waringstown flute band was stationed, the occupants of the motor car alighted and made their way to the gates at their residence arm-in-arm, smiling in acknowledgement of the hearty greetings that came from all sides. The band struck up a lively air as the popular captain and his bride passed along. Under the command of Mr. James Pennington the men of F. Company, Waringstown 2nd Battalion West Down Regiment U.V.F., with which Captain Waring is prominently associated as commander, lined each side of the village and came to the salute. The gentle slope leading to the gates provided what was perhaps the most picturesque spectacle, where all was colour, gaiety, and motion. The school children, with the little girls in pretty white frocks, and all bearing miniature union jacks, which they waved with the enthusiasm that juveniles alone can command, made as pretty a picture as the eye could rest upon. At the gates leading to the house a representative committee, including Ven. E. D. Atkinson, LL.B., the archdeacon of Dromore, had assembled. Here the bridegroom and his bride halted while Mr. H. Hayes read an address of cordial welcome, which voiced the sentiments of the entire gathering. Miss Maggie Kennedy, one of the school children, then stepped forward and presented Mrs. Waring with a choice bouquet, which she smilingly accepted. Then Captain Waring, who was received with ringing cheers, voiced the gratitude and thanks of his partner and himself for the address and the truly characteristic welcome to them on the auspicious occasion chosen for exhibiting a lifelong friendship.
AT THE ANCESTRAL HOME.
The Captain and his bride then passed under the decorated archway to the ancestral home followed by the yeomanry and the Volunteers. It may be recalled that this fine old residence was built my Mr. William Waring, a member of the family, who had come over from England in the time of King James, and was then settled at Toomebridge. Mr. Waring when the times quieted down built the mansion on his property, around which gathered the village now known as Waringstown. The church was built by him in 1681, at first as a chapel for himself and his tenants, but after the ancient church of the parish had been destroyed in the wars of the revolution it was constituted the parish church of Donaghcloney. Mr. William Waring’s eldest son Samuel was a man of considerable mark in his day. He represented the borough of Hillsborough in parliament, and in the course of his travels on the continent observing the prosperity occasioned by the linen-weaving industry in the law colonies, brought over a colony of diaper weavers from Flanders and settled them in his own native village, thus laying the foundation of the damask-weaving industry for which Waringstown has been so long famed. Captain Waring briefly address the North Irish Horse and Volunteers in the mansion grounds, the men cheering heartily at the close. The day celebrations then terminated. Last night there was a great display in the village and grounds, which were illuminated with lights and bonfires, and there was a big turnout of the Volunteers."
6th May 1916
In rest billets at Lealvillers.
Battalion paraded at 9:15 a.m. Marching orders for a short route march about 3 miles afternoon kit inspection.
6th May 1917 (Sunday)
Cpl Joseph Glass wrote - Divine Service for all. Passes were granted to anyone wishing to go to any of the villages or towns convenient to Camp, from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. I and two Serjeants, Shaw J.C. and Bate Wm., and Cpl Gibson went to Bailluel, and spent a most pleasant afternoon and got back to camp at various hours. (The remnant of Battalion and Headquarters are billeted between Bailluel and Meteren).
