KING, James
(Service number 55508)
| First Rank | Sergeant | Last Rank | Rifleman |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 06/07/1887 | Place of Birth | Reefton |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 19 February 1917 | Age | 29 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Waimate | ||
| Occupation | Watchmaker | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | Mrs Eliza KING (mother), 14 Russell Street, Dunedin | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Expeditionary Force | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 35th Reinforcements, D Company | ||
| Date | 2 March 1918 | ||
| Transport | Tofua | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | Southampton, Hampshire, England | |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | |||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | |||
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 |
Death
| Date | 18 June 1958 | Age | 70 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Christchurch | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Cremated Christchurch | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
James King was born on 6 July 1887 at Reefton, the eldest son of Andrew and Eliza (née Eddy) King. Andrew from Scotland and Eliza from Cornwall, England, married in New Zealand in 1883. James was their only son to survive infancy. He had four sisters. James started at Reefton School when he turned five. In 1899 the family moved to Dunedin where he was educated at Arthur Street School, leaving at sixteen to work for Stewart Dawson & Company, a jewellers and watchmakers business. By 1911 James was living at Waimate where he plied his trade. His father died in 1915. James King, a jeweller at Waimate, volunteered for service with the Expeditionary Force in February 1917 and enlisted on 19 February at Timaru. He named his mother as next-of-kin – Mrs Eliza King, 14 Russell Street, Dunedin. J. King was one of the eleven men on the express when it arrived at Timaru from Waimate, to proceed with the South Canterbury quota of the 30th Reinforcements. The men had been entertained at luncheon at Waimate. “A large crowd gathered at the railway station to bid the men farewell. The men are apparently not very keen on send-offs as only about half of them turned up at the station, the others joining the train at Studholme.” The Mayor farewelled the men, and expressed the confidence of all that they would do their duty nobly, and trusted they would return safe to those dear to them. A selection was played by the band as the train left the station to the accompaniment of hearty cheers. Sergeant J. King embarked with the 35th Reinforcements, leaving on 2 March 1918 by the “Tofua” for Southampton, England. He returned to New Zealand by the “Somerset”, leaving from Liverpool on 2 July 1919 and arriving on 20 August 1919. James married Eva Mabel Heartsease Sapsford in 1928. She was probably a sister of James’s sister’s husband. Eva died in Christchurch the following year. James died on 18 June 1958 at his Christchurch residence, aged 70, and was cremated privately. He was survived by his four sisters, one of whom had married.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [15 October 2021]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [15 October 2021]; Evening Star, 13 December 1915, Inangahua Times, 13 December 1915, Waimate Daily Advertiser, 17 February 1917, 25 May 1917, Timaru Herald, 29 May 1917, Press, 20 June 1958 (Papers Past); 07 & 15 October 2021]
External Links
Related Documents
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Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG
Currently Assigned to
Not assigned.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.