BORN HULL 1894. KNOWN AS JIM. ONE OF TEN CHILDREN. SON OF JAMES AND MARY JANE BRIGHAM, 12 RICHARDS TERRACE, BARNSLEY STREET. WORKED AS A WINDOW CLEANER.
MARRIED 25/7/1915. HIS WIFE, MARY ANN GILLE (BORN 7/2/1896) & DAUGHTER GLADYS (BORN 18/10/1915), LIVED AT 9, ROSE TERRACE, BARNSLEY STREET, HULL; 8 KATE’S TERRACE, NORNABEL STREET & 20, WILFRED’S TERRACE, NORNABELL STREET, HULL (WAR PENSION ADDRESS).
HE ENLISTED AT HULL ON 30/9/1914. SERVED WITH THE “HULL PALS” IN EGYPT AND FRANCE. WOUNDED IN FACE BY SHELL ON 26/8/16. RETURNED TO DUTY. KILLED IN ACTION, AT SERRE, SOMME, FRANCE, ON 13/11/1916, AGED 22. HIS WIDOW, MARY ANN RECEIVED A WEEKLY WAR PENSION OF 18 SHILLINGS AND NINE PENCE, ON 9TH JULY 1917.
Hull Pals Memorial Post. PRIVATE JAMES HERBERT BRIGHAM 12/765. Born in 1894, James was the son of James and Mary Brigham of 12 Richards Terrace, Barnsley Street, Hull. A Window Cleaner by trade he enlisted at City Hall on 30th September 1914 joining the 12th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, 3rd Hull Pals. He married Mary Ann Gille on 25th July 1915 and the couple’s only child, Gladys, was born on 18th October just two months before James sailed for Egypt. His training had been eventful, and his disciplinary record suggests army life did not take kindly to him, or he to it. Charges include being absent from a tattoo until apprehended by Military Police; failure to comply with an order; being in possession of intoxicating liquor; and trying to evade arrest. As the centenary of the Somme attack lands on us, it is worth remembering ALL the young men killed during four and half months of meaningless slaughter, including James, who was killed in action on 13th November 1916 at Serre. His body was never recovered and his name is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial; he was 22 years old.
