Sutcliffe, James Major Ramsbottom
Regiment: King’s Shropshire Light Infantry
Rank: Private
Service No: 7294
Boer War service: Not known
Date of enlistment: Not known
Date of discharge: Not known
Reason for discharge: Not known
Other information: He went on to serve in WW1 in both the Royal Hampshire and King’s Shropshire Light Infantry regiments – more information can be found on our Great War site. His brother Charles Major Sutcliffe also served in WW1.
Born: 26 June 1881 in Petersham, New South Wales, Australia and baptised on 17 July the same year in St. Peter’s Church, Cumberland, Sydney, Australia.
Family: He was one of six children born to Frank and Catherine Evelyn Sutcliffe. No marriage can be traced for James.
Residence: He was initially brought up in New South Wales, Australia. His parents returned to the UK sometime between 1887 and 1891, initially living at Wood Green, Church Minshull, Cheshire. By the time of the 1891 census James was living with his aunt and uncle, Fanny and Albert Major, at Park Farm, Calverley, Cheshire. His parents moved to Whitchurch, living at 172 Wrexham Road in 1901 and Bridge Cottage, Heath Lane, although James was not with them. We know that in 1911 he returned to Southampton, travelling from Durban which suggests that he made his home in South Africa.
Employment: Not known at the time of the Boer War; he was a farmer in 1914.
Death: In 1953 in Transvaal, Pretoria, South Africa
Other information: He was admitted to the Standerton Transvaal Freemason Lodge on 28 July 1914.