James Arthur Ashford was born in around 1871, in the Dorset village of Lidlynch. The son of John and Tryphina Ashford, his father died when James was only seven years old, leaving Tryphina to raise him and his three siblings.
James, who seems to have gone by his middle name, Arthur, found work as a farm labourer when he completed his schooling. The 1891 census found him living alone in a cottage at The Common, in Okeford Fitzpaine.
This life seems not to have suited Arthur, however, and, on 23rd November 1891, he enlisted in the army. Joining the Dorsetshire Regiment as a Private, his service records show that he was a little over 5ft 7ins (1.71m) tall, and weighed in at 133lbs (60.3kg). He was noted as being a Wesleyan, with brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion.
Private Ashford enlisted to a total of seven years, with a further five years on reserve status. During his active duty, he travelled the world. He spent a total of eight-and-a-half years overseas, in Egypt, India and South Africa. By 1903, his contract came to an end, and he elected not to re-enlist.
Arthur’s choice may have been directed by love. In July 1899, he married Amy Upshall in Evercreech Parish Church. By this point he was on reserve status with the army, and employed as a labourer in the Somerset village. The couple had six children, though sadly, two of them – Arthur George and Elsie May – died in childhood.
By the time of the 1911 census, the Ashford family had set up home at Rose Cottage in Evercreech, Arthur employed as an agricultural labourer. By the time war broke out, however, he stepped up to serve his country once more.
Private Ashford enlisted within months of the First World War beginning, returning to the Dorsetshire Regiment he had previously served on 30th September 1914. Rather than being sent overseas, however, this time he served on the Home Front, in Dorchester and Portland.
On the evening of 22nd December 1916, Arthur fell down a gulley “near the Rector’s House at Portland” [Western Gazette: Friday 29th December 1916] . He was taken to the Verne Military Hospital in the town, but died of his injuries – a fractured skull – in the early hours of the following day. He was 45 years of age.
An inquest on the body was held by Mr GP Symes on Saturday afternoon… Opening the enquiry, the Coroner commented on the fact that a similar fatality had occurred in the gulley about 12 months previously. There was no evidence to show how Ashford got there, but it was probable that his hat blew off and he went down to get it. They could not imagine that anything else occurred – that anyone pushed him into the gulley.
[Western Gazette: Friday 29th December 1916]
The body of Arthur James Ashford was taken back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in Evercreech Cemetery, not far from where his grieving family still lived.
