Sidney James Jesse

Story:
Sidney James Jesse (usually known only as 'James') was born in Wakefield, West Riding, Yorkshire, on 30 June 1885 the son of Elizabeth Jesse (a suggested father was William Jesse, but no record can be found). By the 1891 Census he was living with his uncle in the Sixpenny Handley, Dorset, area. He had enlisted with the Duke of Edinburgh's (Wiltshire) Regiment (Service No. 5933) and, by the 1911 Census, was serving with the 1st Battalion in the Orange Free State, South Africa, at the School of Musketry with the then rank of Company Quartermaster Sergeant (WO1). He later served with the unit in France and Flanders from 14 August 1914 and later transferred to the Machine Gun Corps as Company Sergeant Major (New Service No. 18055). During this time he had been awarded both the Distinguished Service Medal and the Military Cross. He was later to received the Victory and British War Medals as well as the 1914/15 Star. He had married Maggie Lucas at the Chapel of St. John, Bemerton, Wiltshire, on 29 November 1915 and whilst by 1921 he had remained in the army serving in Co. Cork, Ireland, at the Belbyman Camp his wife lived with her parents in Deansland, Sixpenny Handley. He was later discharged and by the 1939 Register was living in West Woodyates, Sixpenny Handley, Dorset, working as an Estate Handyman as well as serving in the Observer Corps. He died on 15 April 1956 and was buried at Sixpenny Handley, Dorset, on 18 April 1956.