His mother died when he was a child and his father when he was 14. Clearly his sister had major responsibilites in looking after her father and brother.

James was a talented rider and very much wanted to become a jockey. In order for him to be apprenticed to a riding stable, permission had to be given by Florence - which she refused.

His love of horses stayed with him all his life and when he was in his nineties and visiting with his grandson's family in Oxford, he was seriously keen to ride one of the horses in an adjacent field!

When he joined the army he was drafted into the "Remounts", this regiment was responsible for breaking to saddle and harness the thousands of requisitioned horses destined to lose their lives in battle during World War One.

His demobilization form dated the 16^th May 1919, shows that James was wounded and awarded two medals and strips - it also shows that on joining the army he lied about his age as the form shows his year of birth as 1880 not 1882.

He also had the honour of being selected as a lead rider of the carriage at the marriage of Lord Louis Mountbatten.

In 1906 he married Mary Ann Tilbury and they had four children. Doris Florence was the eldest born 13th November 1907, followed by James, Harold and Hetty.

After the war James worked for Tyler's, driving dray horses. Everyday he would deliver barrels of beer to local pubs in Woking. It was part of his duties to tap the barrels before he left. One imagines the landlords' would want to know the beer was suitable for consumption before accepting the delivery. It follows that he would have to sample the brew from each barrel that he tapped and as a result was often blind drunk by the time he had finished his round. It was not uncommon for the horses to make their own way back to the depot with James asleep on the dray. Similarly, Mary would also be expected to assist when James was incapable.

He moved from driving horses to driving lorries when he joined MacFisheries Wholesale and Retail Ltd. He was awarded at least two diplomas by the company for being "free from accidents" in 1938 and 1939.

He later joined a family taxi firm in Woking called Walters and at different stages in their lives his two sons James and Harold also worked for the company.

Walters must have been one of the first "local" firms to use an acronym in marketing their firm as "Nesco" standing for "The Never Sleep Cab Company". James retired from the taxis in 1960 aged 76.

He had a great love of military band music and the radio at 58 Board School Road; Woking was always played loudly during the evening. In later life James was classified as hard of hearing - and his wife Mary Ann had to endure excessive decibel levels in the small parlour.

His final 20 years was essentially spent with his daughter Doris at 3 Beaufort Road, Maybury, Woking. He developed Parkinson's disease and in particular his hands and head shook quite badly. He did however continue to roll his own cigarettes and by the end of each day his jacket would be covered in tobacco and ash!

He died in 1978 aged 96 and was cremated at the Woking Crematorium.

Like so many young men of his generation he experienced untold horrors in The Great War of 1914-1918, but he proved himself to be a good husband and father.