Source: Michael Doyle Their Name Liveth For Evermore: The Great War Roll of Honour for Leicestershire and Rutland.
He was the son of Frederick Coulson, a farmer, born 1854 in Reepham, Lincs., and his wife Annie Coulson (nee Cussens, married in the 3rd quarter of 1876 in the Newark, Notts. district), born 1854 in Dry Doddington, Lincs. John was born in 1888 in Tinwell, Rutland, his siblings were, Mary F., born 1885 and Frederick William, born 1887, both his siblings were born in Tinwell, Rutland, in April 1891 the family home was at Glebe Farm, St. Marys Street, Tinwell, Rutland. In March 1901 John was residing in the family home at 23, St. Pauls Street, Stamford, Lincs., together with his father, now a butcher and dairyman, his mother and siblings, Mary, Frederick, a butcher’s boy and Ethel, born 1892 in Tinwell, Rutland. In April 1911 John was employed as a painter and was residing in the family home at 23, St. Pauls Street, Stamford, Lincs., together with his father, a butcher and dairyman, his mother and siblings, Frederick, a butcher assisting in the family business and Ethel a draper’s assistant. John was a butcher prior to enlistment. The background relating to the circumstances in which John lost his life are as follows; In October 1914, the 10th Cruiser Squadron was deployed further south in the North Sea as part of efforts to stop German warships from attacking a troop convoy from Canada. On 15 October, the squadron was on patrol off Aberdeen, deployed in line abreast at intervals of about 10 miles. HMS Hawke stopped at 9.30 am to pick up mail from sister ship HMS Endymion. After recovering her boat with the mail, HMS Hawke proceeded at 13 knots (15 mph) without zig-zagging to regain her station, and was out of sight of the rest of the Squadron when at 10.30 am a single torpedo from the German submarine U - 9 (which had sunk three British cruisers on 22nd September), struck HMS Hawke, which quickly capsized. The remainder of the squadron only realised anything was amiss, when, after a further, unsuccessful attack on HMS Thesus, the squadron was ordered to retreat at high speed to the northwest, and no response to the order was received from HMS Hawke. The destroyer HMS Swift was dispatched from Scapa Flow to search for HMS Hawke and found a raft carrying one officer and twenty one men, while a boat with a further forty nine survivors was rescued by a Norwegian steamer. 524 officers and men died, including the ship's captain, Hugh P. E. T. Williams, with only 70 survivors, one man died of his wounds on 16th October.