James Hemingway
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
He was born in August 1893 the eldest son of Charles Robert (b. 26 September 1860, Cardiff) and Mary E Hemingway (b. abt. 1861, Stirlingshire, Scotland). Charles Robert was a railway contractor. In 1891 he and Mary lived in Sheffield at 1 Eastcliffe Crescent, with their three daughters, Margaret Stewart (5, b. Melton Mowbray Jan/Feb/Mar 1886), Mary Isabel (3, b. Melton Mowbray July/Aug/Sep 1887) and Phyllis D (1, b. Cardiff); they had four live-in female staff: a cook, parlour maid, nurse and housemaid. In 1901 they were living at 'Redcourt', Derby Road, Nottingham, and there were seven children in the house on the night of the census: Mary Isabel (Molly), Phyllis D, Dorothy F (9, b. Sheffield), James (7, b. Scotland), Beatrice E (5, b. Lenton, Nottm), Olive K (3, b. Lenton) and Charles R (11 months). Also in the household were Charles' brothers, Philip (32, widower, civil engineer) and Ralph E Hemingway (23, single, architect). The family had eight female live-in staff: a governess, nurse, cook, table maid, two housemaids, a kitchen/housemaid and a nurse/housemaid; all the staff had been born in Scotland and there appear to be two pairs of sisters. However, in August 1903, when Charles Robert applied to be an Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers, he gave his address as Brunel Terrace, Derby Road. In 1911 James was a pupil at the Loretto School, Olive was a boarder at a school in Cheltenham and Margaret appears to have been living at The Hermitage, The Park, Nottingham, with two servants in the house; she may have been married in Nottingham at the end of 1911. James' mother presumably died for when his father visited America in 1920, arriving in New York on 17 May from Liverpool in the SS Baltic, he was accompanied by his wife, Jessie Sinclair (46). Charles Robert died in East Lothian, Scotland, in January 1947; one of his executors was his son-in-law, John Rawlings Rees, who had married Mary Isabel (MB, ChB Edin) at Regent Square Presbyterian Church, Camden, London, on 15 December 1921. James' uncle, Ralph Ernest Hemingway, was a second lieutenant in the 8th Bn Sherwood Foresters, and was killed in the attack on the Hohenzollern Redoubt on 15 October 1915 (Loos Memorial).
3rd Bn Seaforth Highlanders attd 1st Bn. He was a company sergeant major in the OTC. He was gazetted second lieutenant to the 3rd Bn Seaforth Highlanders in February 1915 (London Gazette 12 February 1915). He is buried in Woburn Abbey Cemetery, Cuinchy (grave ref Sp. Mem.1)
(Photograph) Second Lieutenant James Hemingway: '3rd Reserve (att.1st) Battalion Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs), was born in August 1893, and was at Loretto from 1907 to 1913. Head of School. Captain XV. Company-Sergeant-Major, OTC. He went up to Trinity College, Oxford, where he played in his College XV. and made his mark as a 'fresher'. At the outbreak of war he was gazetted to the 3rd Seaforths, and was sent out to the Ist Battalion in France. At 5.10 A.M.on May 9, 1915, the Battalion attacked the German trenches near Neuve Chapelle, and Lieut. Hemingway fell, leading his platoon, close to 'Port Arthur' on the road leading to La Bassee.' (www.lorettoniansociety.org.uk/memorial/ww1)(Photograph) Yorkshire Rugby Football Union, In Memoriam, 1914-1919, Doncaster Rugby Football Club - James Hemingway (www.yorkshireindexers.info)National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administration): Hemingway, James of Scawthorpe house, Doncaster, Yorkshire, second-lieutenant Seaforth Highlanders, died 9 May 1915 in France. Administration London 25 October to Charles Robert Hemingway, works contractor. Effects £785. 19s 1d.He is commemorated in the Cargilfield Preparatory School memorial chapel (ww.warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com)An article published on 15th May 1915 in the Nottingham Daily Express reads :- FORMER NOTTM. COUNCILLOR’S SON KILLED. “Second-Lieutenant J. Hemingway. “Many Nottingham people will read with regret the news of the death of Second-Lieutenant J. Hemingway, eldest son of Mr. C. R. Hemingway, late of Nottingham, now residing at Scawthorpe House, Doncaster. The young officer was killed in action near Ypres on May 9th.“Mr. C. R. Hemingway during his residence in Nottingham identified himself with the social and public of the city, and for a number of years was a member of the City Council. “The late Lieutenant Hemingway was aged only 21 years. He was educated at Cargilfield School, near Edinburgh, and Loretto School, Musselburgh, where his influence over his schoolfellows was so great that at the request of the headmaster he remained at the school for an additional year as head boy. “Finally he went to Trinity College, Cambridge, [sic, Oxford] where he became identified with the Officers’ Training Corps. When the war broke out he was offered, and accepted, a commission in the 5th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders, and proceeded to the front with his regiment some three months ago.” Above is courtesy of Jim Grundy and his facebook pages Small Town Great War Hucknall 1914-1918
