Name
James Pitts
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Pirton School Memorial
Biography
James appears on the School War Memorial, confirming that he attended the school.
Adrian Pitts, who is researching the Pitt family, thinks that James may be the son born in 1883 to George and Ann Pitts. This could indeed be correct, but parish and census records also suggest another possibility.
Adrian’s suggestion is also supported by parish records, which record a James born on January 16th 1883 to George and Ann Pitts (née Hare). He would have been thirty-one at the outbreak of war. Baptism records list six children: Elizabeth (bapt 1877), Emma (bapt 1879), William (b 1881), James (b 1883), Ruth (b 1886) and Ellen (b 1889).
The other possibility was baptised in 1875, the son of Elizabeth Pitts. Baptism records identify two children: James (bapt 1875) and Alice (b 1880), but no father is named. The 1881 census confirms these children and lists another sister, Ann (b c1872). James would have been about thirty-six at the outbreak of war.
Elizabeth’s surname changed when she married George Trussell in 1885. They had three children together; Ellen (bapt 1885), Emily (b 1886) and George Thomas (b 1888). Sadly, they only had three years of marriage as George died in 1888.
In summary, it seems this James had two siblings and three possible half-siblings and, if this is the correct James, then it was his half-brother George who served and was killed, and he is recorded on the Village War Memorial.
Unfortunately, it is not certain which is the correct man. However, he is recorded in the Parish Magazine of September 1915 as enlisting sometime during 1915, but before August, and serving in the Royal Engineers.
Acknowledgments
Text from the book ‘The Pride of Pirton’ by Jonty Wild, Tony French & Chris Ryan used with author's permission, Adrian Pitts
