James Edward HUME
Year of Birth: 1877
Place of Birth: Narrabri, New South Wales, Australia
Date of Enlistment: 21 August 1914
Date and Place of Embarkation: 24 September 1914 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Ship: HMAT Omrah A5
Rank: Private
Unit(s): 9th Infantry Battalion
Regimental Number: 9521
Died: 2 July 1916
James Edward Hume was born in Narrabri, New South Wales to Charles & Catherine Hume in 1877. He was one of ten children to the couple and the oldest son.
As a young man he joined the 2nd New South Wales Mounted Rifles and left Sydney on the 15 March 1901 for South Africa. The contingent was spread over two ships – SS Custodian and SS Maplemore. They disembarked at Port Elizabeth on 17 April 1901. Trooper Hume returned to Australia on 4 June 1902 after being involved in some heavy fighting.
At some stage he moved to North Queensland and in the 1913 Electoral Roll he was living in Mareeba, west of Cairns engaged in farming.
He enlisted in the 9th Infantry Battalion A.I.F. on 21 August 1914
Private Hume was 37 years 1 month of age, 5 feet 8 inches tall with a ruddy complexion, blue eyes and reddish hair. He was Church of England and named his mother, Catherine Hume, his next of kin.He left Brisbane on the HMAT Omrah on 24 September the same year.
He joined the Gallipoli Campaign from Alexandria, Egypt in early March 1915 on the Ionian and was appointed Lance Corporal on 2 June the same year, then promoted to Corporal a month later. He was admitted to hospital on 25 August then transferred to hospital at Mudros, Lemnos, Greece on the Ascanius, then moved to Malta on 12 September 1915. He rejoined his unit on Gallipoli on the 19 October 1915
On 4 December, he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and a month later left for Alexandria, Egypt on the Champian then proceeded to join the British Expeditionary Force in Marseilles on the Saxonia, arriving on 3 April 1916.
He died of wounds at the 1st Australian Casualty Clearing Station, France on 2 July 1916 and is buried in the Communal Cemetery, Estaires, France.
His death was widely reported across interstate newspapers.
Online Resources
NAA: B2455 (HUME J E) National Archives of Australia
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
National Library of Australia: Trove Digitised Newspapers
Queensland Registrar of Births Deaths & Marriages
Ancestry.com.au: Queensland Electoral Rolls
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