I made the assumption that if James Irvine had a middle name it would have been on the war memorial, so only counted results for James or J Irvine. This gave me 31 results on the CWGC database.
This seemed like too large a pool of men but a closer look revealed that most of them were in Scottish regiments. Checking the 'other information' on their entries meant that I could discount 29 of the men. Of the 2 left one was in the King's (Liverpool Regiment) and lived on the same street as St James' Church, the other was in the Welsh fusiliers with no other information.
It seemed likely that I had found the right man, to check the likelihood of there being another James Irvine I checked the 1911 census and found only one result for a James Irvine born in the most likely year range of 1880-1900 and living in Liverpool. The street address from the CWGC and the census matched.
James Irvine
Born in 1885 (I do not has his date of birth yet) Son of William and Catherine Irvine. The 1891 census shows that William was a boat-builder's labourer and James was one of 7 children. The family lived at 34 Clarke Street (which was near St James)
1891 census: crown copyright
The 1901 census return shows the family now at 32 Clarke Street. William was working as a Ship Smith's Hammer Man and their 8 children range in age from 23 to 7
1901 census: crown copyright
The 1911 census return shows James to be 27 years old and employed as a Cooper, as were his brothers John and Charles. The family were living at 84 Upper Stanhope Street (Adjacent to St James' Church)
1911 census: crown copyright
James' medal card shows that he was in the Liverpool Regiment with the number 359540 and was awarded the Victory and British War Medals.
source: crown copyright
James' entry in UK Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914-1918
Click here to open a website dedicated to the Liverpool Scottish which includes photographs of a beautiful book of remembrance which of course includes the name of Private James Irvine. |
There is also a plaque dedicated to James by his fellow choristers at Christ Church, Aigburth:
 |
| copyright Amanda Taylor 2013 |
Finally, the probate record for James' will is shown below. Army records show that the pay he was owed, plus a war gratuity of £3 10s were also paid to his mother Catherine.
2 comments:
Thank you for doing this research. James Irvine would have been my great uncle and I have his will and his memorial plaque. Can you tell me which Church the plaque from the choristers is as I am not familiar with Christ Church Aigburth.
Regards
Judith Kent
Hello Judith, you can find the website for the church here: http://www.christchurchtoxtethpark.org.uk/the-community.html if you would like to get in touch you will find my email on the contact us page. Amanda
Post a Comment