Photo: Brian Chandler
In Rothbury Cemetery is a family headstone which reads:
In loving memory of
Mary
dearly beloved wife of
Thomas Rutherford
who died at Longframlington
June 24th 1918 aged 51 years.
Also James Weallans their son
who fell in the Battle of the Somme
July 3rd 1916 aged 22 years.
The above Thomas Rutherford
died at Burnt House Nedderton
April 21st 1932 aged 84 years.
Morpeth Herald 25/08/1916 carries a brief obituary:
Mr and Mrs Thos. Rutherford, Hepburn Bell, Alnwick, late of Eshott, have received official information that their only son Pte. James W. Rutherford, is reported missing between July 1st and 4th.
Morpeth Herald 20/10/1916 carries the following:
RUTHERFORD.- Reported missing since July 3rd, 1916, now reported died on the field from wounds on July 11th [sic], Private J.W. Rutherford (27770), N.F., aged 22 years and 11 months, only son of Thomas and Mary Rutherford, Eshott, now of Hepburn Bell, and only grandson of the late James and Eleanor Weallens, Crook Crossing, Rothbury.
Some-where in France there is a grave,
Where lies my nephew amongst the brave;
A cross with letters may mark the place,
Which the hand of time will soon efface,
Some day his comrades may come home,
But he will be sleeping across the foam;
No mother’s care did him attend,
Nor over him did father bend.
He bravely answered duty’s call,
And gave his life for one and all.
Sleep on dear nephew, in a far-off grave,
A grave I will never see;
But as long as life and memory last,
I will remember thee. –
Sadly mourned by his loving Aunt, I. Weallens, and friends at Rothbury.
His story is told in: Hall, E., Felton War Memorial: the men behind the names, Privately Printed, 2009, page 46.
