| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Private James Preston, aged 35 and a widower with three young children was killed on 25 May 1916 in France in the northern sector of the Somme. It is likely he was killed by a German shell blast which also killed three comrades- Privates G F Johnson, C Rose and L Langford, all from Hull. All four are buried in consecutive graves at the Sucrerie Military Cemetery on the Somme. The Hull Daily Mail of 14 Jun 1916 reported that, “much sympathy is felt at his death as he is leaving three motherless children.”
James enlisted on 30 Nov 1914, joining the 13th Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment, the fourth of the Hull Pals Battalions, referred to as “T’Others”. He trained at Beverley and Ripon, and from Dec 1915 to late Feb 1916 served in Egypt, protecting the Suez Canal from Turkish attack before returning to France.
James was born in Hornsea in 1880 the son of Walker Routledge Preston, farm labourer and Margaret Dandy. James had five siblings, the family home was 3 Welburn Terrace, Back Southgate, Hornsea. James worked as a labourer, latterly in Hull and was employed by C and F Earle Cement Works prior to enlistment. On 16 Nov 1901 at Hornsea Parish Church, James married Mary Jackson of Hull. They had three children, James Arthur, Doris R and Elizabeth Ellen and lived at 9 Beaconsfield Avenue, Cornwall Street, Hull. The date of Mary’s death is not known, but in 1911 the children’s grandfather was their guardian, a role later taken by Elizabeth Cardell, James’ sister, who returned to Hull from living in Manchester. James and Doris continued to live in Hull after their father’s death, marrying in 1926 and 1928 respectively.
James is remembered on the Hornsea War Memorial and on the East Riding Memorial in Beverley Minster. He was awarded the 1914-15 Star and the War and Victory Medals.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |