McConnell, James Wilfred (Jim)
Military Medal
Private
No. EMT/43633, Motor Transport Company, Royal Army Service Corps
Died as the result of an accident on Wednesday 20 August 1919 (aged 18)
Buried:
Belfast City Cemetery, Glenalina Extension (Grave J. 78)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
BIOGRAPHY
Private James Wilfred McConnell MM (No. EMT/43633) died of ‘compression of the brain due to haemorrhage, the result of a fracture of the base of the skull accidentally received’. He died at Bangor Hospital on 20 August 1919 (aged 18). An inquest was held on 20 August 1919.
He was cycling at speed along Somerset Avenue, Bangor at 11.30 am on 19 August when he lost control of his bicycle, crashed into a wall and his head struck a kerbstone. Knocked unconscious, he was taken to Bangor Hospital where he died the following day without regaining consciousness.
Private James Wilfred McConnell MM (No. EMT/43633) was buried on 22 August 1919 in Belfast City Cemetery Glenalina Extension (Grave J. 78). Also buried in that grave were:
William Blakely (his maternal grandfather) of 1 Roden Street, Belfast died 6 May 1920 (aged 80)
Harriett Beattie of 24 Emerson Street, Belfast died 10 February 1961 (aged 64)
James Wilfred McConnell was born on 2 January 1901 at Deramore Avenue, Belfast, and he was a son of Isaac and Jane McConnell (nee Blakely) who were married on 17 January 1900 at May Street Presbyterian Church, Belfast. Isaac McConnell, a builder’s assistant from Belfast was a son of James McConnell, a bookkeeper. Jane Blakely, a teacher from Belfast was a daughter of William Blakely, a carpenter.
Later, Isaac McConnell worked as a bookkeeper, and then a building contractor.
Isaac and Jane McConnell (nee Blakely) had two children:
James Wilfred (born 2 January 1901 at Deramore Avenue, Belfast)
Herbert Blakely (born 28 September 1902 at Deramore Avenue, Belfast)
Later the McConnell family lived at 147 University Street, Belfast, and then at 1 Roden Street, Belfast.
During the Great War Isaac McConnell served as a Lance Corporal (No. 57588) with the Royal Engineers, and he was killed in action on 9 July 1917. He had enlisted at Belfast on 16 November 1914 (aged 34 years 3 months).
After Isaac died his widow Jeannie wrote to the Army seeking financial assistance; she had been hospitalised for two months after undergoing surgery for ‘malignant cancer’. She wrote to the Army on a subsequent occasion to report that Isaac’s Scroll and Plaque had been ‘accidentally mutilated’ and she applied for replacements.
James Wilfred McConnell was educated at Rosetta National School, Belfast, and after leaving school he worked for Messrs Combe Barbour in Belfast. He was very keen to join the Army and in June 1916 his mother gave her permission for him to enlist; he was 15 years 5 months old.
He made his will on 1 February 1917 and named his mother Jeannie as his sole legatee. Wounded in August 1917, he was entitled to wear a wound stripe thereafter. At the age of 16 he was awarded the Military Medal in 1917 for bravery in the field.
His mother, Jeannie (Jane) McConnell died on 22 June 1963 in the USA.