Carole Fife has provided the following:
James was born in Barrington in the early months of 1887, the eldest of eight children of George and Margaret Scurfield. His father was a miner and by 1891 the family had moved from Barrington to Middle Row at Sleekburn Colliery. The family continued to live in the Bedlington area. By the time of the 1901 census, when James was working as a pony driver down the pit, they were living at 17, Sunnyside, but by 1911 they had moved to 4. Ridge Terrace. Although he was 30 at the time of his death I cannot find a marriage for James, but as he is named on memorials in Choppington as well as in Bedlington he may have moved to Choppington to live and work while his family remained in Ridge Terrace. His younger brother David, who served in the South Staffordshire Regiment and was wounded but returned, gave his address as Ridge Terrace.
He is remembered in Bedlington on B15.02, B15.03 and B15.09 and in Choppington on C36.01 and C36.04
