James Robert Brewster was born in Highwood and brought up in Oxney Green and Writtle. He lost his father in strange circumstances in 1893 and ten years later joined the army. At the start of the war he was in Mauritius, before returning to England in December 1914. In April 1915 he participated in the invasion of Gallipoli and was killed in action there three days after landing. His mother lived in Queen Street. A brother was also killed during the war.

seen them pull the house to pieces you would have got up." The deceased was delirious. Witness persuaded the deceased to undress and go to bed, which he did, afterwards eating a basin of broth. In about hour and half the deceased got up and said, "I must dress myself." He afterwards insisted on going outside, although witness tried to prevent him by standing with her back against the door. At that time it was very dark, and raining hard.

The deceased ran up the garden and witness pursued him, but fell. She lit a lantern soon possible and summoned her husband, who brought another lantern. The two traced deceased's footmarks into the field on the opposite side the road, and in the ditch on the right hand side the gateway they found the deceased lying the water. He was on his face and was quite still. The ditch was about four feet deep, but there was not much water.

The deceased appeared quite dead. His face was completely under water. —A juror : About how long was lie in the water ?—Witness: Not more than ten minutes or a quarter of an hour.

— William French, husband of the last witness, gave corroborative evidence. He said the ground was very slippery near the ditch.—Mrs. Jane Cower, who laid the. body out, said that; beyond the injury to the left eye there were no bruises or marks of violence on it.

—Mr. E. Shedd, surgeon, said he was called to the deceased on; Tuesday. Deceased was suffering from traumatic erysipelas, the wound being a contusion of the left eye. He inquired daily deceased had been delirious, but was informed that this was not so. Witness went to see him Sunday morning about 10.30, and was surprised to that was dead. He was of the opinion that the immediate cause of death was suffocation from drowning. Police-sergeant Lunniss said he had been informed that the deceased had suffered from erysipelas previously.

—After the Coroner had summed up, Mr. Wallace, juror, said : This accident would never have happened if it hadn't been for the blow.—The Coroner: We cannot go back so far as that. We cannot trace the matter back to the blow, and return a verdict of manslaughter against the man who gave him the blow. Another Juror: never would have been the ditch if it hadn't been for the blow. Mr- Shedd : I can say that he would have been ill if he hadn't received the blow. His was a bad state of health.—A Juror : He told me that after received the blow and his head felt as if it would split.—The jury eventually found that the deceased met his death by drowning."

The next census in 1901 found James, aged 15, with his widowed mother, his two brothers and three sisters at Vine Cottage, The Causeway in Writtle.

In June 1903 James enlisted into the army at Warley, going on to serve as Lance-Corporal 7591 James Robert Brewster of the 1st Battalion of the Essex Regiment.

At the start of the First World War James' battalion was in Mauritius. It returned to England in December 1914 and between April 1915 and January 1916 it was in Gallipoli. James landed there on 25th April 1915, but just three days later he was killed in action.

He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Helles Memorial in Gallipoli, the Moulsham War Memorial and the Writtle War Memorial..

James' brother, Robert Arthur Brewster, was killed in action on 1st July 1916 on the opening day of the Battle of the Somme.

To date no connection of James to Moulsham has been found beyond the 1918 Register of Electors which shows his mother, Ann Marie Brewster, living at 6 Queen Street in the Moulsham part of Chelmsford (pictured).

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The inquest which followed was reported as follows:

“An inquest was held on the body by Mr. C. C. Lewis, the Chequers Inn, Oxney-green, on Tuesday evening.—Mr. John Challis, farmer, was foreman of the jury.—Mrs. Mary Brewster, of Harold Wood, mother of the deceased, gave evidence of identification.—The Coroner : You know nothing of the cause of death ?—Witness: I was there when he was brought home after he had the blow.—The Coroner: You were about to relate that he had disturbance with some other man?—Yes.—When was that?— Last Friday night week.—The Coroner decided to hear the other evidence before taking this statement.

— Mrs. Eliza French said she knew deceased had been suffering from an injury to one his eyes since Friday night week. About one o'clock on Sunday morning Mrs. Brewster sent for her. Witness at once went to Brewster's cottage. The deceased was sitting dressed in the bedroom. Witness said, "Brewster, you ought not to have got up,'' and deceased replied, "If you had lain there and