James William Baker was born on the 10th October 1889 when the family were living on the Fen in Carleton Rode. His father, James, was a local man and an agricultural labourer, and his mother was Frances Julia Land from New Buckenham. There were four children – James William, Oliver Perry born in 1891, Gertrude Alice (known as Gertie), 1892, and Reginald George (known as Reggie), 1898. All the children attended the local school. The family moved to the Turnpike in the 1890s.
Written in the school log, March 23rd 1896, ‘admitted William James Baker – he is over 6 and has not been to school before and scarcely knows his letters’.
James started school the day after Oswald Balls and they were neighbours; did they become friends?
The Baker children all suffered from health problems and were absent from school on several occasions. James left school in October 1903. (The log book sometimes refers to ‘William James’ and at others it calls him ‘James William.’)
Their father, James, dies in 1908 aged 44 and by the 1911 census their mother is taking in needlework to supplement the family income; James is a bricklayer and Oliver is working as a farm labourer – Reginald is still at school. Gertrude has left home to work as a servant in Norwich.
Conditions in the labour market in rural Britain worsened during the second half of the 19th century and into the 20th: economic depression, poor weather and harvests, and cheap imports of food; many farm workers were tempted by the Canadian government’s aggressive immigration policy encouraging agricultural settlers from Britain. James and Oliver took advantage of the ‘British Bonus’ and they emigrate to Canada; we find their names and home addresses in a Passenger Manifest for Winnipeg in November 1914.
In January 1916, James enlists in Winnipeg to fight (although his birthdate is incorrectly recorded). James joins the Canadian Infantry (Manitoba regiment), 43rd Battalion, Service number 721484. The regimental War Diaries record the action in which James is killed on the 26th October 1917. He is missing, presumed killed in action. We know from the diaries that even men who were buried at the time had their graves destroyed in subsequent actions and are commemorated on the Menin Gate, Ypres alongside James.
James’s brother Oliver, living in Canada, does not fight. He emigrated to the USA when Canada passed the Military Service Act (Conscription) in May 1917.
The youngest brother, Reginald, enlists in The Queen’s Royal West Surrey regiment (23209); he survives and is listed on the Roll of Honour board.
This is a family member about whom I knew nothing but his name. My Grandad was his youngest brother Reg who moved to Settle, North Yorkshire with his wife and firstborn son in 1921.
Thank you so much for contacting us – we would love to hear more as we are beginning to research the men who survived. If you could email the site through the Contact section, I would then be able to contact you directly. Looking forward to finding out more about Reg – many thanks.
Hi Penny, my name is Steve Hale and my email is Steve.hale1@ntlworld.com
My sister Mo (Maureen) has passed your reply to me. Feel free to contact me re the Baker family. I have quite a bit of info and photos.