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James EakettsJames Eaketts (pronounced 'Ecketts') was born on 10 January 1891, the son of Thomas, a labourer, and Emily Eaketts. Jim, as he was known, spent part of his childhood in Upton St Leonards where his father was a gardener. The younger Eaketts children were admitted to the school at Frampton on 28 October 1910, and in 1911 Jim was a labourer at Henley Bank farm, Brockworth. Jim's enlistment papers have not been found, but we do know that he served as a private in the Army Service Corps. He married Laura Eveline (the sister of William Henry Causon) on 28 June 1916 at All Saint's, Gloucester, and gave the address of his sister-in-law, Beatrice Alice Eaketts. (Beatrice was the wife of Jim's eldest brother, Willoughby Thomas, who was at that time a prisoner of war.) Jim was a motor driver which implies his role in the Army Service Corps. His service presumably included extensive demobilisation work for he remained an absent voter throughout 1919. He was awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal and is commemorated on the plaque in Frampton Village Hall. Jim and Eveline had six children: Betty, Henry, Mary, Peggy, Hilda and Lionel. A photograph in our Gallery shows Jim in the cab of a Cadbury's steam lorry (with its solid rubber tyres and no windscreen) and was probably taken in the 1920s. James Eaketts died at his home, 18 The Oval, on 8 April 1968 and was buried five days later in St Mary's churchyard. |
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