Jean Longstaff has submitted the following:-
Sydney was born on 3rd November 1890, one of the four children born to Castle Eden born marine engineer John Thomas Jameson and his wife Christiana from Hartlepool. Harold the oldest child had been born in Hartlepool, but the Sydney, John and Christiana had been born in Sunderland. At the time of the 1891 census Christiana was visiting her sister in Swansea leaving six month old Sydney in the care of John Thomas, his mother and two servants in Azalea Terrace. Widowed in 1896 by 1901 Christiana is living on her own means with the four children and a servant in The Grove, Sunderland, and the boys were all members of Ashbrooke Sports Club. John, Sydney’s older brother, arrived in Canada in 1911, making for Saskatchewan and a life as a farm labourer, and once there he applied for a Homestead Grant, and Sydney followed him also applying for a Homestead Grant in the Redfield area of Saskatchewan.
Two days after John, Sydney enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force at Valcartier Camp, Quebec on 14th September 1914, both gave their mother in Sunderland as their next of kin and their occupations as homesteaders and mentioned the three years they had each spent in the Royal Garrison Artillery. Sydney, the taller of the two by just under an inch, became Private 21486 of the 11th Battalion which embarked for England at the beginning of October 1914. Based at Shorncliffe, on 3rd May 1915 Private 21486 was transferred to the 8th Battalion and joined them in billets near Bailleul, France.
On 28th December 1915 the battalion relieved the 5th in the trenches where enemy snipers were very active by day and night. On the afternoon of 3rd January at about 3pm “whilst in the trenches near Ploegsteert Private Jameson came out of his dugout and partly exposed himself by stepping up onto a trench mat at a rather low point behind the front parapet. He was hit by a rifle bullet and killed instantly”. The funeral of Private 21486 and another soldier were held the following day, attended by the Brigadier General and he was originally buried at Chateau Rosenburg Military Cemetery. Ploegsteert, before exhumation.
Sydney Jameson is remembered In Sunderland on S140.005 , S140.048 part 9 page 201 , S140.082 and S141.141 and on his father’s headstone in Grangetown Cemetery.
In Canada he is remembered on their Virtual War Memorial, Book of Remembrance and on the Saskatchewan Virtual Memorial.
Canadian Book of Remembrance
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
The CWGC entry for Private Jameson