People on board

ALBESON, James Rothwell

James Rothwell Albeson was born in 1887 in Prestwich, Lancashire to Thomas Albeson and Elizabeth Jones. James was the eldest of their four children, the others being girls. Thomas Albeson gave his occupation in the 1891 census as ‘Farmer’ but in the 1901 census he was a ‘Copper Roller Turner for Engraver’. In both cases the family was living in Clarkson St, Rhodes, Middleton, part of Greater Manchester. In 1901 James, then aged fourteen, was working as a ‘Cotton Cloth Plater in Bleach Works’.

In 1911 James was a ‘Maker Upper of Piece Goods Cotton’ while his father was a “Turner of Engraving Rollers to Calico Printers’. Both may have been working for the firm of J.T. Smith and J.T. Jones of Manchester which later included James Albeson on their Roll of Honour. By 1911 also Elizabeth Albeson had died, the eldest daughter Lena was Housekeeper for the family while the two younger girls were working as a ‘Calico Weaver’ and ‘Sponge Cloth Weaver’. The family had by then moved to Walker Street in Rhodes.

It is not known when James Albeson enlisted but by October 1918 he was Acting Sergeant in 2/1st Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry and was stationed in County Cork. He was presumably returning from Ireland on leave on the 10th of October when he travelled on RMS Leinster. He did not survive the sinking nor was his body recovered. His name is recorded on the Hollybrook Memorial in Southampton.