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James and Ruth Brandon (nee Gilbert)

From Rev. Brian Brandon

James (Jum) was born on the 3rd of April, 1877, at 11 Cemetery Road, Peckham, Surrey, the 9th child of Richard and Lucy.

He married Ruth Gilbert, the sister of Millicent, at St Lawrence's Anglican Church, Wanganui, on the 20th of April, 1911. There were five children from the marriage, Grace, Lila, Nancy, Colin and Eileen, all born in Wanganui.

He had a moustache as a young man, and one day when he decided to cut it off without telling his family, the children didn't recognise him.

He purchased a farm at Hauturu up the road from Herbert, in partnership with the Turners. At one stage he had a bad accident, cutting his foot with an axe - and had quite a lot of time off from that. He left the farm in 1921, and they bought a 15 acre farm at Okoia, 5 miles south of Wanganui. They were not very prosperous times because of the depression. They milked cows on the farm, and to supplement his income, James worked at the Okoia Dairy factory for some years.

He also did some work at the freezing works in town. James was a more public man than the rest of the family. He was Chairman of the Okoia Dairy factory (South Wanganui). Their farm was sold during the war years, and they moved to a home that was built in 15 Boydfield Street, Wanganui. Ruth was musical, and played the piano and sung in the choir at St. Lawrence's for many years before her marriage. She also taught music.

James died in Wanganui on the 28th of September, 1959, and Ruth on the 17th of September, 1968.

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