Pte 50220 James Ward

• Age: 36
• From: Kirbymoorside, Yorks
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 19th Btn
• K.I.A Thursday 28th June 1917
• Commemorated at: Menin Gate Memorial
  Panel Ref: Panel 4 & 6

James Ward was born in Kirbymoorside, Yorkshire (in the Helmsley district on the edge of the Yorkshire Moors and often written as Kirkbymoorside), in 1881 to Jane Ward.  There is no father listed on his birth registration.  Jane had a number of other children: Sarah, David, Miriam, Emily (Lily?), Mary,  possibly an Alice, and Clarice Jane.

In 1881 James is under one month old, at 4 Pincey? Street, Kirbymoorside.  The census was taken on 3^rd April that year, which suggests James was born in March (his birth was registered in the June quarter).  Jane, 39, unmarried, no occupation listed, is head of household.  Robert and Elizabeth Ward are neighbours, possibly her parents. There are other neighbours also by the name of Ward.  In addition to James, Jane has children Miriam, 12, Emily, 7, and Mary, aged one.  William Pilmoor, 37, a journeyman blacksmith, is a boarder.

In 1891 his mother Jane, with Lily, 11, and James, 10, and granddaughter Alice, 3, is a general domestic servant in the household of William Pilmoor, single, blacksmith, at Castlegate, Kirbymoorside.

In 1901 Jane, 59, single, and working as a charwoman, is head of household, in Beast Market, Kirkbymoorside, with (granddaughter?)  Alice, 13, listed as a daughter and Clancie (Clarice?) age 6.  A James Ward, age 20, born in Kirbymoorside, is one of three servants in the household of George Jennings, a farmer, and his family in Cawton Hall, Helmsley district.  James’ occupation is not legible, but seems to be connected to horse farming.

Jane Ward and William Pilmoor appear to have married in 1903 in the Helmsley district.

In 1911 James is living at Dale End, Kirby Moorside.  His stepfather William Pilmoor, 64, is a blacksmith, born Headingly, Yorkshire.  His mother Jane, is 69; the couple state they have been married ten years, and have one child (which seems unlikely, but possible, given Jane’s age). James is 29, single, employed as a farm labourer. Also in the household is a nephew, Francis Pilmoor, age 8, and Beatrice Hill, 4, a ‘nurse child’ (often used in the sense of fostered).

Soldiers Died in the Great War shows James enlisting in the King’s (Liverpool) Regiment in Kirbymoorside.  However unlikely this seems, James did serve as Private 50220 in the 19^th Bn and was killed in action on 28^th June 1917.  His body was never recovered or was subsequently lost, and he is remembered on the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing, Ypres.

The site of the Menin Gate was chosen because of the hundreds of thousands of men who passed through it on their way to the battlefields. It commemorates casualties from the forces of Australia, Canada, India, South Africa and United Kingdom who died in the Salient. In the case of United Kingdom casualties, only those prior 16 August 1917 (with some exceptions). United Kingdom and New Zealand servicemen who died after that date are named on the memorial at Tyne Cot, a site which marks the furthest point reached by Commonwealth forces in Belgium until nearly the end of the war. New Zealand casualties that died prior to 16 August 1917 are commemorated on memorials at Buttes New British Cemetery and Messines Ridge British Cemetery.

The YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL now bears the names of more than 54,000 officers and men whose graves are not known. The memorial, designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield with sculpture by Sir William Reid-Dick, was unveiled by Lord Plumer on 24 July 1927.

Soldiers’ Effects lists William Pilmoor as James’ father.  Unfortunately, no pension card can be found so further information is unavailable.

His medal card shows that James earned the Victory Medal and British War medals, but sadly both were returned, indicating that his next of kin were untraceable.  William Pilmoor seems to have died in 1919, and his mother Jane earlier, possibly in 1915.

James is commemorated on Kirbymoorside Cross and Roll of Honour.

We currently have no further information on James Ward, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.