J
Cottingham is probably James Louis Cottingham who was one of four Chailey
brothers who served during the First World War.
He was the eldest child of William and Esther Cottingham of South Common
Chailey and was born at Chailey in late 1884 or early 1885, his birth recorded
at Lewes in the March quarter of that year.
The
1901 census returns show him living at Chailey with his family. The household comprised William Cottingham,
head of the household, aged 53 and working as a tile maker, his 46 year old
wife Esther Cottingham and their five children: James, aged 16, a brickyard
labourer, William Cottingham, aged 13, a brickyard labourer, his twin brother
George Cottingham, aged 13, working as a carter boy on farm, Frederick [Samuel]
Cottingham, aged nine, and finally Alfred Cottingham aged six. The 1891 census also shows a daughter, Edith
Cottingham aged five in 1891 but I could find no record of her on the census
taken ten years later.
The
37th Royal Fusiliers was a labour battalion formed at Falmer , Sussex
on June 6th 1916 . It went to France the following month as part of
the Fourth Army. In April 1917 it became
the 107th and 108th Labour Companies of The Labour Corps. The National Archives gives two designations
for this man: 38338 Warrant Officer Class 2 James L Cottingham, Royal Fusiliers
and (when the 37th Royal Fusiliers was re-designated), 63717 Warrant Officer Class 2 James L
Cottingham, Labour Corps.
No comments:
Post a Comment