Name
James Wells
15 December 1887
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
31/05/1916
30
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Leading Stoker
K/15248
Royal Navy
H.M.S. "Queen Mary."
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Navy Star, British War Medal and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
PORTSMOUTH NAVAL MEMORIAL
Panel 17
United Kingdom
Headstone Inscription
N/A
UK & Other Memorials
Hemel Hempstead Town Memorial,
St Mary's Memorial Memorial, Apsley End
Pre War
James Wells was born in Tring, Herts on 15 December 1887, the son of John and Elizabeth Wells, and the youngest of twelve children.
His father died in 1889, aged 57 and on the 1891 Census, the family were living at 26 Henry Street, Tring, where his widowed mother was looking after her family of five children. No occupation was given for her, but two older siblings, Emma and William were working and presumably providing an income for the family.
By the time of the 1901 Census, James was the only child living at home with his mother at 38 Charles Street, Tring, when he was working as a Carter on a Farm. He later moved to Apsley to work as a Groom and his mother died in early 1907, aged 66. He then decided to join the Royal Navy, and enlisted on 18 October 1907 for 12 years.
He married Kathleen Young on 23 January 1915 at the Register Office in Portsmouth, Hants. She later lived at 63 Apsley End, Hemel Hempstead, Herts.
Wartime Service
James was already a serving seaman at the outbreak of war, having served on the Queen Mary from 4 September 1913 as a Stoker, progressing to Leading Stoker on 8 July 1915. The Queen Mary was part of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron involved in attempting to intercept a German force that bombarded the North Sea coast of England in December 1914, when there was a raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby . The attack resulted in 592 casualties, many of them civilians, and 137 deaths.
He was then involved in the Battle of Jutland. HMS Queen Mary was hit on the first day of the battle by the German battlecruiser, SMES Seydlitz and twice more by SMS Derfflinger. Her magazine exploded and she sank in six minutes. James was one of 1266 crewmen who were killed on 31 May 1916. Only 18 survived.
James was 30 years of age. His body was not recovered for burial and his name is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Hants.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Jonty Wild. www.hemelheroes.com., www.hemelatwar.org., www.dacorumheritage.org.uk.,
