Forename: James Henry
Surname: Taylor
Rank: Lance Sergeant
Regiment: Gloucestershire Regiment
Institution: St Paul’s Practising School
James Henry Taylor was the son of Charles Henry and Eliza Alice Taylor of 2 Melrose Villas, Rose Street. He was born in 1893 and after attending the Practising School he worked as an antique furniture restorer and repairer at Messers Merry & Co. at 6-8 Clarence Street.
He became a Lance Serjeant in Number 1 Company, the 10th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment after enlisting in September 1914. He died on the first day of the Battle of Loos, 25 September 1915, after the Gloucesters captured three lines of trenches and several guns. He is reported to have died after reaching the edge of the village of Hulloch after these gains. James has no known grave and is commemorated on the Loos Memorial. He was one of nine ex-Practising School pupils to lose their life on 25 September 1915. James’s brother Frederick Taylor also died during the war.