John Blamire was born on the 5th March 1893 at High Glenridding, and baptised at St Patricks Church Patterdale on the 26th March that year. His father, James, was at the time a carter at Greenside Mine. He had married Mary Agnes Sedgwick in 1888. Mary Agnes was from Glenridding and was the sister of Dorothy Jane, mother of Thomas Burton Bellas. James’ family had strong roots in the Dale, with the first Blamire appearing the Parish Registers in 1755. His brother Isaac was also living in the Dale, and worked at Greenside. His parents Jacob and Alice also lived in Glenridding.

By the time John was born his mother had already given birth to three children - Francis Robert (in 1889), Ethel (in 1890) and William James in 1892 - who had sadly died aged just 5 months. Three other children were born whilst the family was in Glenridding, Dora (in 1895), Mary (1897) and Irene (1898). John would have attended Patterdale School alongside contemporaries such as Thomas Henry Wall, Herbert Lake and Alexander Lancaster.

Soon after John would have started School, around the turn of the century, it appears that his father moved the family to Castle Carrock, close to Carlisle. It appears that James took on a farm there and by 1901 was a self-employed farmer, and had done sufficiently well to employ men to work for him. It was whilst at Castle Carrock that Mary Ann his wife gave birth to four more children - Libbie in 1901, James in 1903, Alice in 1905, and Annie in 1908. By then she had given birth to 12 children, of whom eleven were still alive.

At some point between 1908 and 1911 John’s family moved again, from the farm at Carrock Castle to 11 Windermere Road in Kendal. By 1911 John’s father James was working as a general labourer, with living with his wife and 8 of their children, with the three eldest girls also in work as “confectioners” - quite possibly at the predecessor of Romney’s Kendal Mint Cake - run by Mr Robert Wiper. It’s not surprising that by 1911 John had left home, as had his elder brother Francis. Francis (now called Frank) was by then working as Horse Man on Farm for the Stamper Family at Catterlen Hall Farm Penrith. So far we have no record of John himself in the 1911 census.

We have not found John’s detailed service record but based on what we believe to be his medal index card (see below) and medal roll he enlisted in the Border Regiment probably around 1915 and then transferred to the Machine Gun Corps. We assume he served in France and by the end of the war he was a Sergeant. He was discharged on the 15th January 1919.

We’re not sure what happened to John after the war but presume that he returned at least initially to Kendal. We know that he died in June 1984 at the age of 91 in Scunthorpe Lincolnshire. He is remembered on the Glenridding Village Hall roll of Honour alongside his cousins, Thomas Bellas and Henry James Blamire.

In terms of the rest of his family, we have very little information so far. We know his grandparents died before the First War, Alice in 1906 and Jacob in 1912. Both are buried in Patterdale. We’re not sure when John’s father died but his mother Mary Agnes died in 1955 at the age of 89. In terms of James’ many siblings sadly we have not been able to find any detailed records on many of them, although the ones we have found seem to have lived to a ripe old age. His elder brother Frank died in June 1982 aged 92 and sister Mary continued living in Kendal until her death in 2001 at the age of 103.

If you have any further information of the life of John or his family please contact us.

Sergeant John Blamire

10690 Machine Gun Corps & 19689 Border Regiment

Born 5th march 1893, Glenridding. Died June 1984 Aged 91 Lincolnshire

Son of James and Mary Agnes (nee Sedgwick) Blamire, High Glenridding, Castle Carrock and Kendal.

Cousin of Harry Blamire and Thomas Bellas

John’s Medal Card