Wood, James

James was baptised on the 10th July 1895 at St Paul’s church in Warwick, at the same time as his sister, Eleanor Grace, although there is a note in the margin saying that she was born in October 1892. At the time the family were living at 89 Friars Street and James Snr was recorded as a farm manager, however, James Snr died aged 33 on 4th July 1895, at 89 Friars Street.

At the time of the 1901 census, James (5) was living with his widowed mother and two older sisters Edith (10) and Eleanor (8) at 28 Priory Road, Warwick. His mother let apartments and had one boarder at that time.

By the 1911 census, Edith had died and the record shows that Sarah had originally had 5 children of whom only 2 had survived. She was running the home as a boarding house and there were 3 boarders, among them a local policeman. Eleanor, aged 18, was working as a draper’s apprentice while James (16) was still at Warwick School.

This shows him as a member of the tragic First XV Rugby Team of 1912-13 , who lost 9 of their members, six of whom are commemorated on Warwick War Memorial

Before the war, James was working as a School Teacher in Stoke on Trent

Warwick Advertiser 24th August 1918: