William JAMES was born in 1850 in Neath Abbey,Glamorgan, Wales. He was the grandson of a patternmaker,Rees JAMES and his wife Ann MANUEL . His father was Thomas JAMES,also a patternmaker. The family moved to Cardiff then Bristol.
After the 1871 census my gr grandfather William emigrated under the Vogel scheme to Dunedin NZ. Later he trained as a marine engineer with the Union Steamship Co. He married in 1878 a Mary Jane CAMPBELL from Jamaica, Mary proved to have TB and sadly died at 38 yrs leaving a young family including the eldest 12 yrs my grandfather, Frank Howard JAMES and a baby of 4 months, plus Thomas, Charles and a girl Mary Margaret (Mollie) . William did his best for the children, transferring to Wellington and placing them in schools and eventually he resigned from the service. We now have a complete mystery as he was said to have died in a boiler room explosion trying to save his crew on the ship ROTOMAHANA . No such fatality has ever been recorded and we cannot find his death in Australia or NZ The captain did bring Mollie up, so William has served on the ship.
Mary Jane's parents in Jamaica were Mary SMITH and John CAMPBELL - could you have more common names to trace?!!!
William's younger brother Thomas and his wife Alice SCRASE went to Kansas and the railroads. I have written a story of their adventurous life and"met" a 2nd cousin descendant in California. Anyone who could shed light on the mystery of William's death c 1896-190I would be over the moon.Likewise Mary's life and family in Jamaica.The photo is of Mary Jane JAMES (CAMPBELL)