HADDEN, H A. Rank. Captain. From an article in a Wexford newspaper;. The news of the death of Capt, H. A. Hadden, R. A. M. C, which took place at the County Infirmary, Wexford, on Thursday, will occasion deep sorrow amongst his many friends in town and country. A native of Wexford, he was a member of a family which has been long and prominently identified with public and professional life. He was the son of the late John Hadden Hadden( sic ), who filled the mayoral chair of his native town with dignity and credit to the community.
In sporting and social circles there was no more popular figure than the late Doctor ‘Jer’, as he was more familiarly known, and his amiable disposition and genial manner won him friend wherever he went. In his earlier days Captain Hadden was a doctor in the Mercantile Marine, and for some years filled the position of Commodore Surgeon to the Allan Line. He was a popular official on various local boards, being compounder of medicines to the different dispensaries in Wexford town and anaesthetist to the County Infirmary for a long period. In December, 1915, he, in response to the appeal for doctors for service at the front, volunteered and was gazetted to the Royal Army Medical Corps. For some time he was medical officer to the military in Dublin, and subsequently went to France, being given the rank of Captain, and was attached to an Indian Cavalry Division.
The rigours of active service undermined his constitution, and in the fierce fighting at the Somme, when heavy demands were made on his services, he contracted pleurisy. After a brief leave, though still suffering from the effects of the malary( sic ), he undertook medical duties at Salisbury Plain, and complications setting in soon after, he was obliged to retire from the service. The military authorities showed their appreciation of his sterling worth and devotion to duty by conferring on him the title of captain which he carried with him into civilian life. His retirment, however, came too late, for after a brief interval his health completely broke down and he succumbed at the County Infirmary as stated. By his death Wexford is all the poorer, for a genial and kindly gentleman has passed way.
His demise at the age of 49 is deeply regretted, and much sympathy is felt with his relatives. The funeral will take place on Saturday, when a Memorial Service will be held in the Methodist Church ( Rowe Street ) at 2. 30pm, after which internment will take place in Crosstown Cemetery. He is not listed in any of the war dead databases.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a40/clondaleek/hadden.jpgRegards.
Tom.
