Tag Archives: Serjeant

Bombardier, Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Great War, Gunner, Hampshire, history, illness, photography, Royal Field Artillery, Sergeant, Somerset, story, war

Serjeant William Dutch

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Serjeant William Dutch

DUTCH, WILLIAM BENJAMIN, Sergt., No. 83812, 47th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, [son] of William Dutch, of Bladud House, Bath, Accountant, by his wife, Alice, [daughter] of Alderman Alfred Taylor, of The Red House, Bath; b. Lower Weston, Bath, 21 April 1894; educ. Bathforum, and Bath City Secondary School 93 years’ Scholarship), and was employed in the engineering works of Stothert and Pitt Ltd., of Bath. He joined the Army, 17th Aug. 1914; was made Bombardier, 1 November 1914; Corpl., 14 November 1914; and Sergt., 1 January 1915; and died at the Thornhill Isolation Hospital, Aldershot, 11 April 1915, of septic scarlet fever; [unmarried]. He was buried at Locksbrook Cemetery, Bath, will full military honours. His Capt. wrote: “I cannot exaggerate the loss he is to me personally and to the whole battery, had picked up a wonderful knowledge of gunnery and his work in general was out and out the best sergeant I had, and would have gone far in the service.” He was a keen sportsman and a popular football player.

[De Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour, 1914-1919]

William Benjamin Dutch was the second of five children to William and Alice. His father initially worked as a grocer and wine and spirit shopkeeper, and the 1901 census found the family living above the shop on the corner of Chelsea Road and Park Road, Bath.

By the time of the 1911 census, however, things had changed. The Dutches had moved to Walcot, nearer the centre of Bath, and William was working as a tramway clerk. Alice was running the family home – 3 Bladud Buildings – as a boarding house, and employed a housemaid and kitchen maid to help look after the lodgings.

William’s dedication to his army role – and his rapid rise through the ranks – is outlined in the article above. He seems, however, to have spent his time on home soil, remaining at his Hampshire base from his enlistment to his passing. His service records give an insight into his physical nature: he stood 5ft 6.5ins (1.69m) tall, and weighed 153lbs (69.4kg). He had light brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion.

Serjeant Dutch’s illness seems to have come on him quickly:

On Sunday a telegram reached [his parents] saying that their son… was seriously ill in hospital at Aldershot. Mr Dutch went thither at once, only to find that his son had passed away. He was attacked last week with bronchial pneumonia, and tracheotomy was performed in the hope of saving his life, but in vain. The deceased was… a young soldier of rare promise and fine physique.

[Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette – Saturday 17 April 1915]

William Benjamin Dutch was just 20 years old when he passed away. His body was taken back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the family plot in Bath’s sweeping Locksbrook Cemetery, within sight of William Sr’s former shop on Chelsea Road.

Serjeant William Dutch
(from findagrave.com)
Army Veterinary Corps, Commonwealth War Graves, County Durham, Glamorganshire, Great War, history, Midlothian, photography, Private, Royal Army Service Corps, Scotland, Sergeant, Somerset, story, unknown, Wales, war

Serjeant Robert Dodds

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Serjeant Robert Dodds

Robert Frederic Dodds was born in 1874 in Darlington, Country Durham. The third of nine children, his parents were Robert and Elizabeth Dodds. Robert Sr was a carter and furniture remover and, when he finished his schooling, Robert Jr joined his father in his work.

Robert Sr died in 1898, at the age of 61. Whether this was a catalyst for his son to move on is unclear, but by the following year, Robert Jr was working as a labourer in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. On 16th September 1899, he married Elizabeth Counsell, a fisherman’s daughter from the town.

It seems that Robert was keen to build a life for his new wife: the next census, taken in 1901, found the couple living in Cardiff, Glamorgan, where he was employed as a stone mason. The Dodds remained in Wales for the next decade, having three children – Lily, William and Rosie – there. By the spring of 1911, however, they were back in Somerset, living in a three-roomed cottage in Castle Street. Elizabeth had had a fourth child just a month before the census, with a second son, Bertie, adding to the family.

When war came to Britain, Robert stepped up to play his part. He initially joined the Royal Army Veterinary Corps as a Private, and found himself in France on 6th March 1915. Elizabeth, meanwhile, remained at home in Somerset, seeking support from her family. With four children to look after, her workload was to increase again when, just a week after Robert arrived on the Western Front, she gave birth to their fifth child, the patriotically named Frederick Gordon Kitchener Dodds.

Robert remained in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps for the next four years, rising to the rank of Serjeant. Details of his time in the service are unclear, but he survived the war and, on 11th July 1919, he transferred to the Royal Army Service Corps.

Little further information is available about Robert’s life. By the winter of 1919/1920, he was based in Midlothian, Scotland. He was admitted to the 2nd Scottish General Hospital, Edinburgh, although his condition is unclear. Whatever it was, it was to be fatal: he passed away on 6th January 1920, at the age of 45 years old.

Robert Frederic Dodds’ body was taken back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in Highbridge Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, photography, Sergeant, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Serjeant Robert Oborne

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Serjeant Robert Oborne

Robert Oborne and his twin, William, were born in the summer of 1880, two of ten children to John and Elizabeth Oborne. John was an agricultural labourer, and the family were raised in Bishop’s Lydeard, Somerset.

Death was to surround Elizabeth Oborne: William died when he was only three years old and John also passed away in 1886. This was around the time that she gave birth to their last child, who she also named William. The 1891 census recorded Elizabeth as living in the centre of Bishops Lydeard with four of her children: John, who was a farm labourer, Elizabeth, an errand girl, and Robert and William, both of whom were still at school.

When he completed his schooling, Robert found work as a coal hewer. He moved to South Wales, and boarded with the Hampshire family, in Ystradyfodwg, Glamorganshire. Further details of his life before the outbreak of war are scarce, although it seems that he changed career, taking up work as a groom. Known as Bobbie, later reports suggest that he was a genial young man, and had a large number of friends.

1915 proved a pivotal year for Robert: that summer he married Amy Lyons in Taunton. Elizabeth died in October, and his next oldest sibling, a sister also called Elizabeth, passed away just weeks later.

“Just before the war he joined the Somerset Light Infantry [Territorial] and went through the Gallipoli campaign, and then went to Egypt… he acted [in the capacity of a groom] to his officer commanding, and whilst in Egypt had the misfortune to get thrown from his horse, which caused internal trouble.” [Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser: Wednesday 14th April 1920]

The now-Serjeant Oborne was medically discharged from 3rd/4th Battalion on 21st August 1916, and returned to Somerset. He took up employment with Colonel Dennis Boles MP, acting as his groom from him from Watts House, on the outskirts of Bishops Lydeard.

Robert appears to have continued with this life for the next few years, but his wartime injuries continued to dog him.

…on Tuesday, March 2nd [1920], he gave up work and went to the doctor, who advised his removal to the hospital, where he was taken the following Friday, and underwent an operation the same evening. Hopes were held out for his recover, and he lingered until 1:30 on Wednesday morning [7th April], when he passed away.

Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser: Wednesday 14th April 1920

Robert Oborne was 39 years old when he died. He was laid to rest in the grounds of St Mary’s Church in his home village, Bishops Lydeard.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, injury, photography, Sergeant, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Serjeant Walter Hayes

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Serjeant Walter Hayes

Walter Hayes was born in Somerset in 1883. The oldest of seven children, his parents were William and Mary Hayes. William was an agricultural labourer, and the family lived and worked at Houndhill, to the south east of Stogumber.

Walter also fell into farm work and, in the spring of 1914, he married Emily Mary Tarr. The wedding took place in Tiverton, Devon, but the couple did not stay there for long as, just weeks after their wedding day, Emily gave birth to a daughter, Edith, over the Somerset border in Dulverton.

Storm clouds were brewing over European shores, and Walter was called upon to play his part. His service records are also sparse, but they confirm that he initially joined the Somerset Light Infantry, before moving across to the Devonshire Regiment.

Walter had either been in the army earlier in his life, or he worked his way up during the war, and at some point he reached the rank of Serjeant. He saw fighting overseas and, according to later documentation, was caught up in a gas attack. This was to have an impact on his health and he was discharged from army service sooner than he might otherwise have done. Officially stood down in March 1919, he returned home to his wife and family.

Emily and Walter had a second child, William, later that year, and the family were finally able to settle into a routine. Walter’s health, however, was severely impacted and, on 12th January 1921, he passed away from bronchitis. The lung condition was found to be directly attributable to his war service, and that gas attack, Walter was 38 years of age.

Walter Hayes was laid to rest in the quiet graveyard of All Saints’ Church in Dulverton.

Emily was pregnant when her husband died: she gave birth to their third child, a son she named Walter, just a few months later. She did not re-marry, and, according to the 1939 Register, she was boarding in a house in Dulverton and carrying out unpaid domestic duties.

Emily lived on until the autumn of 1973, passing away in Taunton at the age of 85.

Serjeant Walter Hayes
(courtesy of Trevor Hayes)

The early life of Walter Hayes was a challenge to piece together, as his was not an uncommon name in the area at the time. My thanks go to his great nephew, Trevor Hayes, for his help in pulling together the story and for the image of his great uncle.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, story, war

Serjeant George Vowles

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Serjeant George Vowles

George Joseph Vowles was born in Winsley, Wiltshire, on 18th September 1881. The older of two children, his parents were Joseph and Sophia Vowles. Joseph was an agricultural labourer from Bedminster, who was 46 when his son was born, and twenty years older than his wife. By the time George’s sister was born, in 1890, the family had moved west, and had settled in Wraxall, near Nailsea in Somerset.

George found work as a gardener when he finished his schooling, but he had his sights set on bigger and better things. Sophia had died in 1894 and on 21st March 1900, he enlisted in the Royal Marine Light Infantry. His service records show that he was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, with light brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion. He was also noted as having a scar on the back of his neck.

For the next ten years, George seemed to flourish, serving on a number of ships, including HMS Niobe and HMS Andromeda. In between voyages, he was based at the RMLI depot in Plymouth. During this time he was promoted twice, to the rank of Corporal in September 1902 and Serjeant five years later.

Serjeant Vowles’ contract of service ended in 1911, but with his father now also having passed, he was re-engaged. He continued to make great strides, and, as war broke out, served on HMS Medea and HMS Theseus.

George’s service was cut short in the spring of 1916. Based back at the Plymouth Depot at the time, he fell ill with pulmonary tuberculosis. Sadly, the condition was to get the better of him, and he passed away on 6th April 1916, at the age of 35 years old.

George Joseph Vowles’ body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of All Saints’ Church in Wraxall, alongside his parents, and not far from where his now-married sister, Dorothy now lived.

Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, County Kildare, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, Jersey, Lancashire, Lance Corporal, Lance Serjeant, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, South Africa, South Lancashire Regiment, story, war

Serjeant Andrew Fox

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Serjeant Andrew Fox

Andrew Michael Fox was born on 25th May 1871, the oldest of six children, to Michael and Eliza Fox. Michael was a Private in the 40th Regiment of Foot, and was based in Curragh Camp, Kildare, Ireland, when Andrew was born.

The family travelled where Michael’s work took him: Andrew’s oldest siblings were born in Uttar Pradesh, India, and the family were in England by the time of the 1881 census.

Given Michael’s military connections, it is no surprise that Andrew followed him into the army. He enlisted in August 1884, joining the South Lancashire Regiment. His service records give his age as 14 – he was, in fact, just 13 years old – and note his height as 4ft 9ins (1.44cm) and his weight as 73lbs (32.7kg). Andrew was recorded as having hazel eyes, brown hair and a fair complexion: his religion was also confirmed as Roman Catholic.

Andrew’s service records have become damaged over time, and a lot of his details are illegible. Because of his age when he enlisted, he was initially given the rank of Boy. In July 1887, he was formally mobilised, with the rank of Private. He remained on home soil for the next ten years, with the 1891 census listing him as being barracked in Fort Regent, Jersey.

It was in the Channel Islands that Andrew met Kathleen Dooling. The couple married on 7th January 1892, and went on to have ten children. Over the next couple of years, Andrew progressed through the ranks, achieving Lance Corporal in September 1892, Corporal in June 1894 and Lance Serjeant in August 1897.

In 1899, the Second Boer War led to the newly-promoted Serjeant Fox being posted overseas. He remained in South Africa for six months, while the conflict raged on. Andrew returned to Britain in April 1900, and was officially stood down from the army on 31st December that year, as he was deemed no longer fit for military service.

The 1901 census found Andrew and Kathleen still living in family barracks in Aldershot with their three eldest children, Andrew Margaret and Edith. Andrew was recorded as being an officer’s valet, likely now in a civilian role. The family remained in Aldershot until 1910, with five more of their children being born there.

Another change came at that point, however, as the following year’s census found the family living in Brighton Street, Warrington, Lancashire. Andrew was, by this point, working as a salesman for the Singer Sewing Machine Company, and the family were cramped into a four-roomed end-of-terrace house.

War came to Europe in the summer of 1914, and Andrew stepped up to play his part once more. Again, full details have been lost to time, but he took up the rank of Serjeant once more, and was attached to the Somerset Light Infantry. This necessitated another relocation for the family, and they moved to Cannington, near Taunton, Somerset.

Serjeant Fox was assigned to the 7th (Service) Battalion, but was not to remain in his role for long. He contracted phthisis, or tuberculosis, and passed away from the condition on 20th April 1915, just weeks before his regiment departed for the Western Front. He was 43 years of age.

Andrew Michael Fox was laid to rest in the peaceful Cannington Cemetery, not far from the family home.

Private Andrew M Fox

In the plot next to Serjeant Andrew Fox is another, similar headstone. Not quite having the same form as the Commonwealth War Grave Commission headstone that Serjeant Fox has, this is dedicated to a Private Andrew M Fox, of the 2nd South Lancashire Regiment.

Andrew Moyse Fox was the eldest son of Andrew and Kathleen. Born on 31st March 1894 in Ireland, he wanted to follow his father and grandfather into the army.

Andrew Jr enlisted in the South Lancashire Regiment in August 1908. His service records confirmed that he was just 14 years of age, standing 5ft (1.52m) tall, and weighing 5st 2lbs (32.7kg). He was noted as having dark brown hair, hazel eyes and a fresh complexion, and that he has a scar on his right buttock.

As is the case with his father, there is limited information about Andrew Jr’s army career. He spent just under six years serving with the regiment, and was formally mobilised when he came of age in 1912. On 27th March 1914, however, Private Fox was discharged from the army on medical grounds, for reasons unclear. The next record available for him is that of his passing, just nine days after his father. He was 21 years of age.

Andrew Fox Jr was laid to rest next to his father in Cannington Cemetery. The heartbreak for Kathleen, to have lost husband and oldest boy within two weeks, must have been indescribable. While her son’s headstone is similar in design to her husband’s, he was not subsequently entitled to an official Commonwealth War Grave, as he had left the army before the outbreak of war: the Commission’s qualification dates (4th August 1914 to 31st August 1921).

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, Leading Mechanic, London, Mechanic, Patty Officer Mechanic, photography, Royal Air Force, Sergeant, Somerset, story, war, Yorkshire

Serjeant Algernon Spurge

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Serjeant Algernon Spurge

Algernon Carlyle Graham Spurge was born on 27th August 1891 in Bath, Somerset. The middle of five children, his parents were Algernon and Ida Spurge.

Algernon Sr was a portrait photographer, based in the Twerton area of the city, and this was very much a family business. The 1901 census recorded the Spurges as living in Victoria Road, Bath, with Ida’s brother, Tom Leaman, who was working as a photographic reloader.

Later that year, however, things were to take a turn for the worst. Algernon Sr seems to have been having some business worries and, on the morning of 16th December, he set off for work as usual. His and Ida’s daughter, also called Ida, arrived at the studio to find her father in some distress, a bottle of potassium cyanide – used as part of the photographic process at the time – next to him. He asked Ida to fetch him some water and salt, but when she returned, he declared it was too late, and lost consciousness. A doctor was called, but Algernon passed away shortly after he arrived.

A note was found, which read “My dearest wife, I really cannot stand the worry and anxiety of another day, to say nothing of weeks and perhaps months. Ask Mr Ashman and Mr Withy to be kind enough to help you straighten out matters a little. My best love to you and all my dear ones. AS” [Somerset Guardian and Radstock Observer – Saturday 21 December 1901] Ashman and Withy were family friends, who were also in the photography business.

An inquest was held and a verdict of suicide while temporarily insane was recorded.

The family rallied round, and Algernon’s widow and children moved in with Ida’s widowed mother in Bristol. Algernon’s daughter Ida continued working in photography, and Algernon Jr also took up the business. The 1911 census found him boarding with, and working for, his uncle Tom in Bath.

War was closing in on Europe by this point and, when it was declared, Algernon stepped up to play his part. He enlisted in the Royal Naval Air Service on 4th June 1915 as a Leading Mechanic (Photography). His service records show that he was 5ft 5ins (1.66m) tall, with dark brown hair, brown eyes and a dark complexion.

Algernon was initially assigned to the shore establishment HMS President in London for three years, rising to the rank of Petty Officer Mechanic (Photography). In April 1918, when the Royal Air Force was created he transferred across to HMS Daedalus in Lee-on-Solent, Hampshire, and rising to the rank of Sergeant Mechanic.

That autumn, with the end of the war in sight, Algernon fell ill. He contracted influenza, and this developed into pneumonia. He was admitted to the Military Hospital in York, but the conditions were to prove too much for his body to take. He died on 27th October 1918, aged just 27 years old.

The body of Algernon Carlyle Graham Spurge was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in St James Cemetery, Bath, not far from his father. When Ida passed away in 1926, she was buried in the same cemetery, father, mother and son reunited once more

Serjeant Algernon Spurge
(from ancestry.co.uk)
Colour Sergeant, Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Egypt, Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, India, injury, Lance Corporal, Malta, photography, Private, Royal Defence Corps, Sergeant, Somerset, South Africa, Sri Lanka, story, war

Serjeant Major Frederick Pearce

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Serjeant Major Frederick Pearce

Frederick Charles Pearce was born in the spring of 1873 in the Gloucestershire town of Thornbury. The youngest of six children, his parents were Thomas and Elizabeth Pearce. Thomas was an agricultural labourer and, when he finished school, Frederick found work as a ‘rural messenger’.

This was only a step towards the career that Frederick sought, however, and on 12th July 1892, he enlisted in the Gloucestershire Regiment a a Private. His service records show that he was 5ft 5ins (1.65m) tall and weighed 128lbs (58kg). He was noted as having a fresh complexion, blue eyes and brown hair.

Private Pearce spent twelve years in the army, serving in Malta, Egypt, India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka). He had two stints in South Africa, including the 1899-1900 campaign, during which he was wounded in his chest in the battle at Farquhar’s Farm.

By the time he was discharged on 11th July 1904, he had risen through the ranks to Sergeant, his service records noting that his conduct had been “very good” (in capitals and underlined).

Thomas had died in 1896, and Frederick’s widowed brother William moved back in with his mother to help support her. Frederick also returned to Gloucestershire and, on 30th March 1905, he married Mary Rugman in the parish church in Olveston. The couple may have been childhood sweethearts, as the Pearces and Rugmans were Thornbury neighbours.

The marriage certificate noted Frederick as a groom, and it is likely that he was able to turn his hand to any role after his army career. The couple had a son Leslie, who was born in 1909, and, with the new responsibility of fatherhood, Frederick sought a more permanent career.

The 1911 census found the family living in Somerset, where Frederick was employed as a gardener at the Kingswood Reformatory School. This was a boarding school on an estate to the north of Bath, set in 57 acres of grounds, and again it seems likely that his military career stood him in good stead for such a prestigious role.

When war came to Europe, Frederick felt the pull of his military career once more. While his age did not compel it, on 20th November 1914, he re-enlisted in the Gloucester Regiment. He was enlisted with his previous rank, but within a year has been promoted to Acting Colour Sergeant.

In the spring of 1916, the Royal Defence Corps was formed, and, given his experience and age, Frederick was transferred across to the new regiment. Colour Sergeant Pearce was based in London and, over the next eighteen months served in four troops: 109, 149 and 150 Protection Companies and the 10th City of London Volunteers’ Regiment.

Frederick’s age and the demands of his role were beginning to take their toll by this point, and by the end of 1917, he had developed nephritis, or inflamed kidneys. The condition was severe enough to warrant his discharge from service, and the now Sergeant Major Pearce’s military career came to an end on 17th January 1918.

Frederick returned home to Bath, to the bosom of his family. He and Mary three children by this point, Violet and Freddie being two younger siblings to Leslie. Tragically for the Pearces, however, the family life was not to to last for long: Frederick’s condition was to get the better of him just three months later. He passed away on 18th April 1918, at the age of 44 years old.

Frederick Charles Pearce was laid to rest in St James’ Cemetery in Bath; a man of duty resting at last.

Tragedy was to strike again for poor Mary, when just six months later her youngest child, Freddie, also passed away. Details of his death are vague, but he was buried with his father, the two Fredericks reunited too soon.

Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Great War, history, illness, London, photography, Private, Royal Army Service Corps, Sergeant, Somerset, story, Surrey, war, Wiltshire

Serjeant John Carthew

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Serjeant John Carthew

John Wallace Carthew was born in Warminster, Wiltshire, in the spring of 1892. The second youngest of seven children – three of whom did not survive childhood – his parents were miller James Carthew and his tailoress wife, Sarah.

John was destined to make a path for himself. By the time of the 1911 census, he was boarding with the Southon family in Aldershot, and working as a chauffeur.

On 22nd March 1914, John married Caroline Hamilton, a parlour maid for Captain Charles Woodroffe and his family in Aldershot. The couple set up home in Queensgate Mews, London, and having had a daughter, Cecilia, who was born that February.

When war came to Europe, John was quick to enlist. He joined up on the 21st December 1914, and was assigned to the Mechanical Transport section of the Royal Army Service Corps. His service records note that he was 6ft 1in (1.85m) tall, with a scar on his right eyebrow.

Private Carthew rose through the ranks, becoming a Corporal in 1916, and a Serjeant in 1918. During this time he acted almost exclusively as chauffeur to General Sir William Robertson. His duties were mainly based on home soil, but he did spend a year in France, while Robertson was Chief of the General Staff there.

As the war came to a close, Serjeant Carthew fell ill. Based in a camp in Aldershot, he contracted influenza, and this developed into pneumonia. This was to take his life, and he passed away at the town’s Connaught Hospital on 25th November 1918. He was just 26 years of age.

Caroline was living in Bath, Somerset by this point, and this is where the body of her husband was brought for burial. John Wallace Carthew was laid to rest in St James’ Cemetery, in the family plot where his father, who had died in 1911, was also buried.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, photography, Royal Scots Fusiliers, Sergeant, Somerset, story, unknown, war

Serjeant James Gillighan

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Serjeant James Gillighan

Some lives are destined to remain shrouded in mystery, and James Gillighan’s is one of those to be lost to time.

His headstone sits in the quiet Roman Catholic Cemetery in Bath, Somerset. It provides his regiment – the Royal Scots Fusiliers – and confirms that he was a Serjeant at the time of his death on 15th December 1919. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission adds that he served in the 2nd Battalion, but sadly James’ service records no longer exist.

The Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects notes that his next of kin was his brother, Matthew Gillighan, which suggests that James’ parents were not alive, nor that he was married. The document also notes that Serjeant Gillighan passed away in Bath War Hospital.

Another army document – the Service Medal and Award Roll – suggests that the service number on the headstone – 42839 – was actually James’ second number, given to him when he moved to the battalion depot. Tantalisingly, however, his previous regimental number – 15170 – sheds little more light to his service, other than the date he was sent to France – 15th September 1915.

Contemporary newspapers do not have any records for James’ passing, so it is likely to have been natural causes of some description – possibly an illness contracted while serving.

Sadly, there is little more detail that can be added to James’ life. He lies quietly, in a corner of the Bath cemetery, wrapped in mystery.