James Saker was born on the 25th November 1890, in Kelsale, Suffolk. His father was Robert Saker from Henham, Suffolk, and his wife, Betsy (nee Calver) from Kelsale. By the 1901 census, Robert is listed as blind and the family were probably in receipt of parish relief. HIs occupation had previously been recorded as a hawker. There were 13 children born to the couple, 12 of whom survived to adulthood; Martha (born c.1887) Maurice William (18/11/1888), James (25/11/1890), John (13/12/1893), Robert (16/10/1894), Herbert (8/10/1895), Lily May (4/9/1897), Ernest Edward (12/9/1899), Rosa (Rose 10/10/1900), Betty (Bessie 22/10/1901), Charles (Carlos 16/2/1903), George (23/4/1907); Mabel Louisa’s birth and death are registered in the same quarter of 1908.
The earlier children were born in different villages as the family moved on a regular basis, finally settling in Carleton Rode in 1898. In 1911, there was also a Blanche Saker, named as a granddaughter aged 6, born in the village and living with the family in a cottage on the Mile Road.
James left school in the spring of 1904 and by 1911 he was working as a boot repairer’s assistant on the High Street in Little Walsingham. He was also in the Norfolk Militia Reserves. He was engaged to Ethel Dorothy Kidd, a domestic servant who lived a few doors away.
James emigrated to Canada in July 1912 to start a new life as a shoemaker and Ethel joined him there. They married in Edmonton on the 27th August 1913.
Following the outbreak of war, James enlisted in the Canadian Infantry, Alberta Regiment, 49th Battalion on the 18th January, 1915.
All brothers who were old enough, served during the Great War. Three of them, John, Robert and Herbert joined the Royal Navy before the war. The following picture appeared in the EDP on the 23rd November, 1915:
The four sons of Mr Robert Saker of Carleton Rode.
Later, Maurice joined the Rifle Brigade as a rifleman and transferred into the RAF in 1918 and Ernest joined the Middlesex Regiment.
James was killed on the 26th March, 1916 and was buried at Maple Copse Cemetery near Ypres. This cemetery was hit by heavy shelling later in the war and so many of the graves, including that of James, do not actually reflect the place where they lie.
There is a border crossing manifest which shows an Ethel Saker entering the USA from Canada at Buffalo in 1918 but we cannot as yet find any further trace of them.