written by Anthony DumvilleJames Henry Dumville was born in 1885 at Yew Tree House, Snape. He was one of ten children born to James Dumville and Elizabeth Haw. He worked for a few years as a gardener's labourer at Thorp Perrow before moving to York. We do not know exactly how long he worked at Snape (he would have left school at the age of twelve). He served an apprenticeship for seven years at Killingbeck's Butcher's, York. He married Eva Eliza Potter, who lived next door. They were married at St. Thomas's and soon after they moved to Darlington. James Dumville worked at 97 Bondgate which was at first called Stoke's and then Wright's and then Johnstone's. He did all the jobs: slaughtering, cutting up the meat, and serving on the counter. James and Eva lived at 78 Greenbank Road, Darlington with their two sons, James Wilfred and Harold. James was a quiet, unassuming hard-working man. His only hobbies were growing aspidistras, mounting cow horns and playing the gramophone. He never talked about his family to my father. He died at the age of fifty-seven from a heart attack, and is buried in the West Cemetery, Carmel Road, Darlington. My grandmother died in 1967 at the age of eighty-three and is buried with him. |
James Henry Dumville |