Person    | Male  Born 13/7/1886  Died 9/2/1945

Rev. Thomas William Douglas James

Countries: China/Hong Kong

War dead non-military, WW2 i

Commemorated on a memorial as being a civilian who was killed in WW2. Includes mercantile marines and emergency services personnel.

Rev. Thomas William Douglas James

Thomas William Douglas James was born on 13 July 1886 in Gloucester, a son of Alfred Tovey James and Sarah Elizabeth James. His father was a merchant's clerk. He was baptised at St Luke's Church, Gloucester, (now demolished), on 8 August 1886 and the family were living at Weston Road, Gloucester. The 1891 census shows that they had moved to 2 Linden Road, Gloucester and the 1901 census has them living at 60 Wellington Street, Gloucester.

He studied at Westminster College, Cambridge and went to Swatow, China in 1910 and stayed there for 15 years undertaking missionary work. He was concerned for open-air work and established a book-shop in an area that was a centre of Confucianism and an old Chinese temple was converted to a church in 1922. He also helped to arrange an armistice in 1917 between two Chinese forces so that peace was restored in Swatow and his efforts were rewarded by the local Chamber of Commerce erecting a memorial stone on a local temple.

He married Mary Elizabeth Duffas who had been appointed to the Wukingfu Girls School and they had two children, Alfred William Douglas James and Elizabeth M James. They all made trips between the UK and China on several occasions. In 1927 he was transferred to Hakka, China but returned to Wukingfu, China the following year. He was recalled to London in 1935 to fill the post of Foreign Missions Secretary and the 1935 & 1936 Post Office telephone directories list him at The Hollies, Southborough Road, Bickley, Kent but those dated 1937 onwards show the address as 36 Southborough Road, Bickley. The 1939 England and Wales Register, that was compiled for the issue of National Identity Cards, shows him as a minister of religion at Westminster College, Madingley Road, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire.

He was attending a conference at Church House, Tavistock Place, on 9 February 1945 when it was hit by a V2 rocket and he was killed, aged 58 years. Probate was granted to his widow and his brother, Benjamin Crowther James. His effects totalled £2,485-19s-9d. He is one of the 65 names on the Missionary Roll of Honour Board in The Gibson Hall, St Columba's United Reformed Church, Cambridge. He is also commemorated in the Civilian War Dead Roll of Honour, located near St. Georges's Chapel in Westminster Abbey, London.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Rev. Thomas William Douglas James

Commemorated ati

Church House WC1 - names

Our colleague Andrew Behan has done some detailed research on these names and...

Read More

Other Subjects

Tim Yau, MBE

Tim Yau, MBE

President of the 12th Executive Committee of London Chinatown Chinese Association. His name appears twice on the lion monument and it may be Uau or Yau.

Person, Commerce, Politics & Administration, Tourism / Traditions, China/Hong Kong

1 memorial
Arthur Waley

Arthur Waley

Poet, translator and orientalist. He never actually visited China nor Japan.

Person, Poetry, China/Hong Kong, Japan

1 memorial
Lao She

Lao She

Chinese novelist and dramatist. Born Beijing as Shu Qingchun. Lao She was his pen name. Lectured at what is now SOAS 1924 - 9. During this time he discovered Dickens and began his own writing. Best...

Person, Literature, China/Hong Kong

1 memorial
China Inland Mission

China Inland Mission

The picture source website provides lots of useful information on the CIM.

Group, Religion, China/Hong Kong

1 memorial
R. K. Burns

R. K. Burns

CN Co. C'E Chengtu. Andrew Behan has researched this man: Chief Engineer Officer Robert Kirkwood Burns was born on 31 August 1889 in Greenock, Scotland, the son of Robert and Martha Burns. His fath...

Person, China/Hong Kong, Scotland

War dead, WW2
1 memorial

Previously viewed

Hugh Price Hughes

Hugh Price Hughes

Methodist preacher. Born Wales. Died at home in London. From West London Mission history page: "The West London Mission (WLM) was established in 1887 as part of a new initiative within Methodism –...

Person, Religion, Social Welfare, Wales

1 memorial
Southwark Council

Southwark Council

The London Borough of Southwark was created as an amalgamation of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Southwark, Camberwell and Bermondsey. Southwark council annually invites proposals for new plaques fro...

Group, Politics & Administration

91 memorials
Guglielmo Marconi

Guglielmo Marconi

Born Bologna. Arrived in London, with his mother, in 1896 to patent his method of communication without wires. In 1897 he established the Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company, which survived und...

Person, Science, Seriously Famous, TV & Radio, Italy

4 memorials