James Bashford Bain 1893 - 1971

Owned by Liz Hardie
Last updated: Oct 29, 2017

James Bashford Bain (1893 - 1971)

James Bashford Bain was born in Ipswich, Queensland on 27 December 1893. Born only three months after his parents marriage, he was the eldest child and first son of James Cairns Bain and /wiki/spaces/HFHW/pages/2523599.

James married Eva Mary Yates in Ipswich, Queensland on 4 September 1918.

Eva Mary Yates was born in Queensland on 4 November 1895. She was the third child and second daughter of David Yates and Mary Hayes.

James and Eva produced 3 children, 1 son and 2 daughters:

James joined the Railway Department in November 1910. In his time with the department he worked in sections including parcels, goods, ticket office, and relieving the roster clerk and staff clerk at the Ipswich running depot

We know that in 1919 - when he was 25 - James was working as a railway clerk with the South Division Traffic Branch, based in Ipswich. By the time the children were in their early teens the family were still living in Ipswich in a medium sized timber house on a 66 foot frontage block.

Because James was a railway man, the family was relatively protected from many of the deprivations of the depression. That said, they didn't have money to burn and Eva took in work as a tailoress supplementing the families income

James shared his fathers love of sports and horse racing and was heavily involved in the Ipswich sporting community. He was recognised for his contributions in an article in The Brisbane Courier, 25 Feb 1931 pg 6:

  • He was the Secretary of the Tivoli Football Club from ??? to ???
  • He was elected Secretary of the Ipswich Swimming Club in 1930
  • He was the Secretary of the East Ipswich Cricket club and regularly compiled the club averages of senior players of the Ipswich and West Moreton Cricket Association (see article Queensland Times, 6 June 1933, pg 5)

 

, this is most likely because James had a fondness for the racetrack.

Eva was religious and heavily involved in the East Ipswich Methodist Church. She was a demanding woman with high expectations of her children. All of the children were well educated attending Ipswich Central School moving on to grammar school. The girls especially were raised to be ladies. The family were comfortable, taking regular family holidays to the beach.

In 1939 the family moved to Prospect Avenue in Sherwood Brisbane, where they lived until Eva died in August 1967, she was 72.

In 1949 James took up duty as a fifth class clerk in the locomotive branch at Ipswich. In 1950 he was involved in an appeal against the appointment of L Owen to to position of fourth class assistant staff clerk.

After Eva's death James moved in with his daughter Doreen and her husband Douglas 'Tich' Hardie, where he lived until his death in 1971 at age 77.