He was born in 1882. On the 1901 census he was living in Chambers Lane with his parents Joseph a coalminer and Hannah his mother. James seems to be the eldest child at 19 and he too is a coal miner. His siblings were Thomas 11, Joseph 9, Leonard 6 and Amy 2.

The 1911 census places James Hopwood 29 yrs,  still in Chambers Lane, Mynydd Isa, Mold. He lived with his 25 year old wife Sarah Ann – a Buckley girl and their children Dora 5, Sophia 4, Frank 3 and Edith 2. Staying with them was James’s cousin 21 year old Edward Hopwood. Both James and Edward were colliers. James was bilingual – able to speak both Welsh and English but the rest of the household was English speaking.

His army records  show that he enlisted and signed his attestation papers on 11 th March 1915. It shows that in May 1916 he was disciplined for being 15 hours absent after pass and he was deprived of 21 days pay.  He spent time in a field hospital in September 1916 and died of wounds received the following April. The saddest part of this record is the form (Form B 104 -126) that the army sent to his widow listing the possessions of his they were sending to her.  We print this below.

County Herald 11th May 1917

James Hopwood is also named on the Buckley Memorial.