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I'm posting this US WWII Draft Card mainly because the day and month of birth is the same as the day and month of birth given on his New Zealand Army Record.

For residence on the card it states 'Transient'.....could this mean he was a sailor?


Name: James Irvine
Gender: Male
Race: White
Age: 46
Birth Date: 18 Jun 1895
Birth Place: Scotland, Scotland
Residence Place: California, USA
Military Draft Date: 1942

Transient: a person who is staying or working in a place for a short time only.

Good find, LondonBelle!

He couldn't have been as transient as all that, if he was contactable enough to be drafted.


The DOB raises hopes. Assuming 18 June was really his birthday, we know he couldn't have been born in 1894, assuming the Sept 1894 newspaper report listed all Ann's children - and the 1901 census gives his age as 6 - so 1895 seems a good bet.

The draft card names no "person who will always know your address", and no employer.
His address was General Delivery, Oakland, Alameda, California.
We know he was in San Francisco in 1919 - just beside Oakland.

If James had decided to cut off contact with his family (apart from birthday cards to George), and had become a wanderer or casual labourer with no long-term address that he could (or wanted to) give to George - all the above would fit.

But of course there's no proof. There were six James Irvines , with no middle name, born in Scotland in 1895 - though none in Shetland. The draft card states he had no middle name.

It's a pity SP doesn't indicate which part of the year someone is born in.

Aha! Found it!

One of those 1895 James Irvines was born in Leith, so I had a look, just because of the seafaring connection.

IRVINE
JAMES
M
1895
692/1 437
Leith North


Born 18th June at 5pm, at 2 Hamilton Street, Leith.
Father: William Irvine, seaman, Merchant Service.
Mother: Ann Irvine, ms Henry.
Parents' marriage: 1888, January 5th, Lerwick.

Informant: William Irvine, father.


So the draft card is probably that of Neil's uncle James.
His height was 5ft 9ins, and he weighed 148 lbs.
He was white, had brown eyes and hair, and a ruddy complexion.

Posting just as a possibility, purely because the parents' names were unknown, and because Spokane is a port (if that's relevant) :

James Irvine
in the Washington, U.S., Select Death Index, 1907-1960
Name: James Irvine
Gender: Male
Age: 54
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1896
Death Date: 21 Apr 1950
Death Place: Spokane, Spokane, Washington
Father: [No Name]
Mother: [No Name]
FHL Film Number: 2032909
Reference ID: 7402

Well done, AG....did you spend some of your credits ;-)

The marriage date is correct because there is a small announcement in the Shetland Times with that date.

So it looks like William and Ann did get back together!

I did find the New Zealand Army record for James but I don't appear to be able to find it again now .....there was a signature on that and I wanted to compare with that on the US Draft card

Yes, I saw that Death too and did wonder, AG. There were no parents names but I suppose there is a good chance the Informant wouldn't know any of those details

Cracking bit of work.

Was the NZ Army record on FMP, LondonBelle?

It doesn't seem to be on Ancestry - only the Nominal Roll record which I posted, but that's just a list of names. No signatures.

I'm sure it came up on Ancestry, AG.

I've now gone into Fold3 and found it.

Description on there

Ht 5ft 8in
Black Hair
Brown Eyes
Dark complexion
144 lbs

In fact the Fold 3 looks to have more pages than those I saw on Ancestry

From Valuation Rolls on SP:

IRVING
WILLIAM
Tenant Occupier
HOUSE NO 2 HAMILTON STREET
LEITH
1895
VR005500045-

Occupation: seaman


Photo of Hamilton Street:

http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/0_street_h/0_street_views_-_hamilton_street_1976.htm

I've found the Service Record it was on Ancestry

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/3369740:61564?_phsrc=EHz113&_phstart=successSource&gsfn=James&gsln=Irvine&ml_rpos=1&queryId=abce5d7908f1341ce2c3f65fdca36a56


Don't know why it doesn't come up automatically!

Considering that there's 26 years between the two signatures, it's not surprising they're not absolutely identical - though similar.

Anyway, there's enough other evidence to be pretty sure the two documents are for the same man - mother's details on the NZ record, and DOB and birthplace on the US one.

To all those who have been helping in my quest to try and find James Irvine I thank you, as I am new to this part of Genesreunited I was unsure of haw it worked. I think I am starting now to see how it works.
I am trying to work my way through the replies and will try to implement some of the suggestions.
Thanks again for your patience.
Neil

After reading all the posts I feel extremely positive that Uncle James has finally been found, for me it means a lot but for a 96 year old in Shetland I think it will mean a lot more, my deepest thanks, Neil

You're welcome, Neil. We love a good mystery!

James's birth is 9 months after the incident in Sept 1894 - just a passing thought !

Thanks, Neil. As AG says we do like a good mystery and we can be like "a dog with a bone". So pleased we were able help!

Found the following US Social Security Application and Claims Entry but sadly it doesn't say where! Could be Spokane

Name: James Irvine
Birth Date: 18 Jun 1895
Death Date: 21 Apr 1950
Claim Date: 2 May 1950
SSN: 568283294
Notes: 06 Apr 1979: Name listed as JAMES IRVINE

The following is the Death Certificate for the James that died in Spokane which is on FamilySearch. You will note that it states that his place of birth was California but that could be information provided by an Informant who knew that he had lived in California and assumed that was where he was born. However, the WW2 Draft Document states he was born in Scotland. Also, this James was no longer a Sailor but occupations can change during the 31 years that he had last made contact with his family (1919).

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-679Q-SSQ?i=228

The following is an article in The Spokesman Review (Spokane) 23 Apr 1950. You will note that the age given in the article is 49 however the death certificate gives date of birth as 18 Jun 1895 together with the place of death ie Bob's Tavern.

Transient Found Dead
James Irvine, 49, a transient was found dead late Friday night in the rear of Bob's Candy Tavern, W315, Trent, police reported yesterday. He had visited the Tavern shortly before he was found. No investigation would be necessary , police said. The body is at Hazen-Jaeger funeral home.