440th Agricultural Company, Labour Corps
James Davis was born in Newent in 1877, the son of William David Davis and Sarah (née Hobbs). His siblings were William James (1865), Ellen Sarah (who was baptised Sarah Ellen) (1868), Alice Susan (1872), George Frederick (1874), Julia (1879) and Frederick (1882). The children were baptised en masse in Newent on 2 July 1882. In 1881, he was living with his family in Kent’s Green, Newent but by 1891 the family had moved three miles to Taynton and were resident at Hown Hall where he remained until his marriage.
He married Elizabeth Tucker Grimshire (born 16 April 1885) at the Parish Church, Taynton on 20 November 1906 and he was described as a Wheelwright, the same trade as his father and brother George. James and Elizabeth had two daughters, Daisy Elizabeth (born on 9 July 1909), and Ethel Olive (17 June 1912). At the time of his death, his family were living next door to his parents at Brick House, Taynton.
On the birth of his eldest daughter, James was described as a Carpenter and in 1911 had changed to being a Fruit Merchant. He enlisted in the Royal Engineers as Sapper 263726, and was transferred to 440th Agricultural Company Labour Corps as Private 457897.
If a member of the Labour Corps died whilst serving in that Corps, and had previously served in another unit, the connection to the previous regiment was to be recorded.
From 1919, in the case of a memorial, the deceased’s previous regiment and Regimental Number were recorded and any link to the Labour Corps was not shown. Where a soldier served in more than one unit, the one he last served previous to the transfer to the Labour Corps was selected as his regiment.
With the exception of his Pension Record Card (PRC), no other records have been found for James, which may indicate they were part of the ‘burnt documents’ (WO 363) damaged or lost during the WW2 bombing of London in September 1940.
He died on 18 February 1918, aged 40 years, and is buried in St Lawrence Churchyard, Taynton.
His memorial is a private family one, and not issued by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. It commemorates James; his wife Elizabeth; and their daughter, Daisy Elizabeth. A death notice placed in the Cheltenham Chronicle of 23 February 1918 states that he died ‘after a short illness’.
He is buried on the north side of the church, fifth row from the west boundary, third grave in from the north boundary. Five years earlier, his parents died within a month of each other.
James is commemorated with 23 other parishioners on the Taynton War Memorial (seen above), which is located in front of the entrance to St Lawrence Church, Taynton.
Researched by Baden Russell October 2020