Pte 35103 James Ellinson

James was born on 8^th July 1892 to William Ellinson and his wife Sarah (nee Martin) who married in St Peter's Church, Liverpool on 26th August 1883. He was baptised on 04^th September 1892, his father’s occupation gardener.  He was known to the family as Jim.

His parents William Ellinson and Sarah Martin, both born in Woolton, married in about 1883.  James was the fifth of eleven children, all born in Woolton and all of whom survived.  He had older siblings Mary, Thomas, William, and John, and younger siblings Francis, Sarah, Lilly, Jane, Isaac, and Henrietta.

In 1901 the family is living at 5 Rose Street, Much Woolton. Father William is a domestic gardener. They have eight children; James is 8.

In 1911 they are at 7 Cam Street, Woolton.  His father’s occupation is listed as gardening and lamplighter. There are nine children still at home.  James, 18, is employed in domestic gardening, like his brothers John and Francis.    

Interestingly, all his military records show the name Ellison. He served as Private 35103 of the 17^th (Pals) Battalion of The King’s Liverpool Regiment. He trained in the U.K. until shipping to France, disembarking at Boulogne on 07^th November 1915. 

James saw and survived the action at the Somme in July, including Trones Wood and Guillemont, the Battle of the Transloy Ridges in October, Arras in April 1917, then in the Ypres salient, including Passchendaele. 

By December 1917 the battalion is in the Polderhoek sector of the salient. The Battalion War Diary records:  

19/12/1917 – Battalion holding front line.  Heavy gas shell bombardment of the whole sector between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. and intermittently during the night necessitating the use of respirators.

20/12/1917 – Battalion holding front line.  2nd Lieut. R. Gill, M.C., M.M., reported enemy in large numbers creeping towards our line about 11:45 a.m.  Rifle and Lewis gun fire failed to disperse them and in reply to our S.O.S. call an artillery barrage was put down. The enemy scattered and at 12.20 p.m. all was quiet.  Casualties: 2 OR killed.

The two Other Ranks referred to as killed were Private 52009 James Leach, 19, and Private 35103 James Ellison, aged 25.  They both rest at Hooge Crater Cemetery, Flanders. 

Hooge Chateau and its stables were the scene of very fierce fighting throughout the First World War. On 31 October 1914, the staff of the 1st and 2nd Divisions were wiped out when the chateau was shelled; from 24 May to 3 June 1915, the chateau was defended against German attacks and in July 1915, the crater was made by a mine sprung by the 3rd Division. On 30 July, the Germans took the chateau, and on 9 August, it and the crater were regained by the 6th Division. The Germans retook Hooge on 6 June 1916 and on 31 July 1917, the 8th Division advanced 1.6 Kms beyond it. It was lost for the last time in April 1918, but regained by the 9th (Scottish) and 29th Divisions on 28 September.

Hooge Crater Cemetery was begun by the 7th Division Burial Officer early in October 1917. It contained originally 76 graves, in Rows A to D of Plot I, but was greatly increased after the Armistice when graves were brought in from the battlefields of Zillebeke, Zantvoorde and Gheluvelt and other smaller cemeteries.

There are now 5,916 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 3,570 of the burials are unidentified, but special memorials record the names of a number of casualties either known or believed to be buried among them, or whose graves in other cemeteries were destroyed by shell fire.

The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.    

His parents would have received the news around Christmastime. 

They placed an In Memoriam notice in the Liverpool Echo one year later, on 20^th December 1918: 

“ELLINSON – In loving memory of our dear son JAMES ELLINSON (our Jim), K.L.R., killed in action December 20 1917.  In memory he is with us here, In memory still we hold him dear.  Never forgotten by his loving Father and Mother, Brothers and Sisters, 16 Berrington Avenue, Woolton.”

 His parents received his effects and pension.  The family appears on the electoral registers in 1914 and 1929, still at 16 Berrington Avenue.

CWGC have James' name on his headstone as J. Ellison. We contacted CWGC  to see if this error can be rectified. A reply was recieved on 07th July 2020 as below:

Having investigated this case, it is clear that everything military has the surname as Ellison whereas everything civilian, including his baptism which I have found, has the surname as Ellinson.

Based on the fact that we had no contact with the registered next of kin at the time of death, confirmed by the lack of family information on our original documentation, they would not have had the opportunity to correct any mistakes that may have been present on the military side (my belief in this instance).

As such, I have now amended the surname from Ellison to Ellinson on our existing record and this change should replicate on our website within the next 24 hours or so, please feel free to check. 

I have additionally entered a few extra details (parents, age, forename) based on the documentation collated and also made reference by way of creating an Alias entry to reflect his military service as Ellison (a search on service number will return both entries).

I have also placed a headstone amendment request into our works programme which will be assessed by one of our works teams when they are next on site. If an amendment in situ is possible this will be carried out in due course however if a replacement stone is required, this will add some time to the process.