James was born on Christmas Day, 1891 and joined the Park Ilford County High School on 26th August 1901. He had previously attended Cleveland Road School where he is listed on the war memorial.
His family lived at 66 Gordon Road. His father, Richard was a cashier and his mother’s name was Mary Ann. His father was born in Germany and so would have been in a difficult position at the outset of the war. James had five siblings (Florence, Richard, Elsie, Sidney and Frederick). James and three of his siblings including Elsie worked as mercantile clerks in 1911. James worked in the meat trade.
James was a sergeant in Number 3 ‘A’ Reserve Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery when he died on 25th November 1919. His service number was 22340. As he died over a year after the end of the war, probably as a result of disease or wounds gained during active service, he was buried ‘at home’ in Ilford’s Buckingham Road Cemetery (Grave 842).
Research by Andrew Emeny, History Teacher at ICHS
Sources:
Ancestry.com
ICHS school records and magazines
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Note
Ilford County High School started life as the Park Higher Grade School in 1901 in Balfour Road, Ilford. It was renamed Ilford County High School (or initially County High School, Ilford) in the years after the school’s management was transferred from Ilford School Board to Essex Education Committee in 1904.