Profile

GOURLEY, James Alexander
(Service number 32325)

Aliases
First Rank Private Last Rank

Birth

Date 1 October 1880 Place of Birth Hunter, South Canterbury

Enlistment Information

Date Age
Address at Enlistment Hunter
Occupation Labourer
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin Mrs M. E. PRATLEY (mother), Hunter, Makikihi
Religion Church of England
Medical Information

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation
Unit, Squadron, or Ship
Date
Transport
Embarked From Destination
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With

Military Awards

Campaigns
Service Medals
Military Awards

Award Circumstances and Date

No information

Prisoner of War Information

Date of Capture
Where Captured and by Whom
Actions Prior to Capture
PoW Serial Number
PoW Camps
Days Interned
Liberation Date

Discharge

Date Reason

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Farmer; labourer

Death

Date 16 August 1959 Age 78 years
Place of Death
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery Waimate Old Cemetery
Memorial Reference Area 28, Plot 375
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

James Alexander Gourley was born on 1 October 1880 at Hunter, New Zealand, the son of James Gourley and Mary Gourley. His mother, who was named as his next-of-kin, was Mary Elizabeth Barnett Green. She married Edward Pratley in 1886. On enlisting, James stated that his father was deceased. J. A. Gourley, of Makikihi, handed in his name for active service in March 1916. On 28 July 1916 at Trentham, he was admitted to hospital.

James was not identified as a son in the administration of his mother’s estate in 1934. James Alexander Gourley died on 16 (or 13) August 1959 at Oamaru. A pensioner, bequeathed his estate to his two sisters, Ellen Mildred Kennard (née Pratley) and Beatrice Maude Shepherd (née Pratley), both of Waimate, and appointed Ellen the executrix. He wished his body to be buried in the Waimate Cemetery. He is buried in Waimate Old Cemetery, alongside his mother and Edward Prattley [sic].

Sources

Waimate Old Cemetery headstone transcription [31 August 2020]; Timaru Herald, 29 March 1916 (Papers Past) [28 August 2020]

External Links

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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