James Atherton’s story is something of a conundrum; there is little trace of him for much of his life and his family seem to be casual about the use of their names and ages!

James was born on 27 June 1857 in East Common, Selby, but it is not known how long the family remained in Selby after his birth. His parents were shown on his birth certificate as Mary Atherton, formerly Cavanagh, and James Atherton, a hemp dresser.  At the time of writing, no evidence of the family has been found on the 1861 census but by 1871 they were living on Eleanor Street, Ardwick in Lancashire. James’ father was recorded as William on the census return. James was 13 years old and had left school; like his father as a hemp dresser. He had  had three younger siblings, who had been born in Stockport, Birmingham and Salford. This was the last census on which I have been able to identify James on a census return.

On 11 November 1885, aged 28 (though declaring himself 23!), when he was working as a labourer, James went to Lancaster and attested into the King’s Own Royal (Lancaster) Regiment. He was described as 5’4¾” tall, weighing 138lbs with a fresh complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. He was issued with service number 1339 and was posted to 4th Battalion. James named his mother as his next of kin, giving her address as 32 Leam Street, Manchester.

He served in the UK until 22 February 1896 before embarking for India where he served the remainder of his five years with the battalion in Quetta, Karachi and Hyderabad. According to James’ service records, he married Annie Sunderland at St Joseph’s Church Stockport on 28 May 1896 - the registration of that marriage shows that he married Annie Edwards. James also gave the birth dates of his five children when he joined the army - all of the children’s birth registrations show the mother’s maiden name as Edwards.

Though no census returns showing James and his family have been identified, it would appear that they were living in the Manchester area between 1904 and 1908 during which time Annie had two daughters and a son. By 1910 the family had moved to the Hull area, where daughter Ellen and son Matthew were born.  Soldiers’ Died records that James served with service number 10780, though no other evidence has been found to support this. Fortunately, as James’ service records have survived, we an get a better picture of him through the information there.

He presented himself at the Recruiting Office at City Hall in Hull on 21 January 1915 just a few months into the war. He gave his address as 10 Emily’s Court, Strickland Road, Hull and declared himself to be 42 years and six months old - he was, in fact 57 years and 6 months old. It appears that he had altered his age to avoid being turned down by the army authorities. The report of James’ medical examination the day before he attested, showed that he had been working as a labourer, stood 5’4¼” tall, weighed 134lbs. and had a 36” chest. He was duly passed fit for service, issued with service number 16786 and posted to 3rd Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment. This was a reserve battalion and a training unit which was serving at the Humber Garrison, Hedon.

James served at Hedon for most of 1915, before being allowed a short leave in December because he was unwell. Unfortunately his health deteriorated and on 19 December James was admitted to Reckitt’s Hospital. Before the war, this was a Social Hall on Dansom Lane, for the employees of local business, Reckitts, which produced Dettol, gas masks and petrol cans amongst other things. It had been converted to a military hospital towards the end of 1914.

James’ condition deteriorated further and he died of heart failure at Reckitt’s Hospital the following morning. He was 59 years old. James was buried in Western Cemetery, Hull, along with three other soldiers who had died earlier that autumn. The four men were given Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstones after the war - James sharing his with 4621 L/Cpl Adcock who had died on 7 November.

James is also remembered in the St. Matthew’s Church Hull Book of Remembrance (now kept in St. Matthew’s Church Anlaby Road Hull).  

His accrued pay and War Gratuity Payment of £3 were paid to his widow in due course.  James’ Pension Index Card shows all six of his children and names Annie as his widow. Annie was living on Emilys Terrace, Strickland Street, Hull, and a pension of 27/- a week was allocated to help her bring up the children.

At some point, probably after Annie’s death in 1932, her name was scored out and James’ married sister Betsy was named as the children’s guardian.  When the census was taken in 1921, Annie was still living at 10 Emilys Terrace with all of the children still at home. The two youngest children were living with their aunt Betsy at 22 Rosamund Street, Hull in 1939.