| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
James Barnard Steel moved to Beverley from West Rudham, Norfolk, in 1901. He took lodgings with Frederick and Emma Woodmansey at 12 Vicar Lane and was employed as a stud groom at the racing stables of Major Lionel Gurney Buxton, a banker, of Saint Mary's Manor, Beverley.
He was the fourth of five children born to Bernard Steel, an agricultural labourer, and his wife Anna, nee Gray. Although his birth was registered as Bernard James Steel, he was also known as 'James Barnard Steel' and occasionally as 'George'. To add to the confusion, his elder brother, Bernard George, was also called 'George'. Their younger brother Francis Charles was known as 'Charles' and their sister Anna Charlotte was sometimes 'Charlotte' and sometimes 'Annie'. Their father was born as Barney and their mother's correct name was Honor.
He joined the Army as James Barnard Steel, his medal card shows he served in the 1st/5th, 1st/7th and 8th Battalions, Northumberland Fusiliers. Private Steel was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal, but not the 1915 Star, which indicates an enlistment date of late 1915. The dates of his transfer between Battalions are not known but by autumn 1917 he was serving with the 8th Northumberland Fusiliers, attached to the Machine Gun Corps. They were involved in the Battle of Poelcappelle, a late phase of the Third Battle of Ypres (often referred to as Passchendaele) and it was in this engagement, that James was killed on 10 Oct 1917. He has no known grave and his name is inscribed on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing, Flanders.
His death, as 'George' Steele of the 'Dublin' Fusiliers, was reported in the Beverley Guardian on 3 Nov 1917. The Thetford and Watton Times of 17 Nov 1917 also reported the death of Pte 292208 Steel, J.B. of the 8th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers. His name, Steele G, is on Beverley War Memorial and his name, Steel G, is on the Northumberland Fusiliers Memorial in Beverley Minster.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |