Leading Seaman James Thomas Hopson
| Date of Birth | 28/12/1890 |
|---|---|
| Age at Death | 26 |
| Date of Death | 25 |
| Service Number | J/232 |
| Military Service | HMS Queen Mary |
| Merton Address | |
| Local Memorial | St. Barnabas' Church, Mitcham |
Additional Information
James who was born in West Ham on the 28th of December 1890, was the second child of James Robert and Annie Jessie Moore. His parents had married on 18th January 1891 at their local parish church in Poplar. Their marriage certificate reveals that James Robert was a mariner by profession.
The 1891 Census reveals that Hopson family resided at 58 Lansdown Road, Canning Town in West Ham, also living with them was 19-year-old Arthur who was James Robert’s brother. In 1891, 37-year-old James Robert was employed with his brother Arthur as a lighterman.
Forty-two-year-old James Robert died in December of 1895, in West Ham.
It is unclear where the Hopson family were at the time of the 1901 Census.
According to naval records TS Exmouth Training Ship Records, James Thomas began his career as an apprentice mariner on the 14th of September 1904, he was 4ft 8 inches tall and weighed 70lbs. By the time he finished his apprenticeship on the 30th of January 1908, he had grown to a height of 5ft 2 inches tall and now weighed 114lbs.
0n the 28th of February 1910 was serving in Portsmouth on board HMS Ganges where he has now grown to a height of 5ft 3 inches with light brown hair a fresh complexion and he has blue eyes. He also has a scar on his chest.
In 1911, nineteen-year-old James Thomas was now serving as an able seaman still on board of HMS Ganges. The 1911 Census also reveals that James Thomas’s mother had moved to 52 St Mary’s Road in Plaistow as a lodger. Annie Jessie was a 51-year-old widow was employed as a laundress and who had given birth to 3 children of whom 2 had survived to adulthood.
0n the 4th of September 1913, James Thomas began service on board HMS Queen Mary. HMS Queen 31st May 1916 HMS Queen Mary was sunk during the Battle of Jutland. 1266 crew men were lost and only 18 men survived.
James Thomas Hopson is remembered with honour at Portsmouth Naval Memorial and Mitcham War memorial.
Fifty-eight-year-old Annie Hopson is recorded as residing at 32a Inglemere Road in Mitcham, with her daughter Annie and son-in-law Charles Driscoll, according to the 1939 Register.