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Quorn WW1 Roll of Honour - John Newton Jacques
Died 27th September 1917, aged 25
Zonnebeke, Belgium
A tough start in life
At 8 years old, John Newton Jacques is recorded on the 1901 census as the second of three illegitimate children of Martha Jacques, a seamstress in Loughborough. No father is recorded on the birth certificate, although it is possible that his name was Newton, as this is the middle name that Martha gave to not only John, but also to his elder sister Daisy. Even though John, his mother Martha and Daisy were all born in Barrow upon Soar, his grandparents, William and Ann Jacques, both lived and were buried in Quorn. It seems likely that John and his mother Martha were living in Loughborough before the war, but sadly Martha died in June 1913 aged 46.
War service
Prior to enlisting John was working at H. Coltman and Son, boiler works on Meadow Lane in Loughborough, although after his mother’s death he had moved back to Quorn and was living on Leicester Road. He joined the 5th Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment in 1914 and rose to the rank of Sergeant, seeing much action before he was killed at Zonnebeke in Belgium on 27th September 1917. His body was never recovered. John’s name not only appears on the Quorn War Memorial, but also on the Carillon War Memorial in Loughborough and on the Tyne Cot Memorial in Belgium.
The girls they left behind
Like many of the young men, John had a girlfriend – Cissie; a sweetheart who he had left behind. The following appeared in the Loughborough Echo on 26th October 1917:
“JACQUES – In loving memory of Sergt J N Jacques, of the Leicestershire Regiment, who was killed in action on September 28th 1917.
The shock was bitter, the sting severe,
To part with one I loved so dear,
The trial is hard, but I will not complain,
And I hope to meet him in heaven again.
From his loving sweetheart Cissie”
Who were the Suttons?
John Jacques was one of the more difficult soldiers to research and there are still unanswered questions. A Mr and Mrs Sutton also felt John’s death very deeply as evidenced by another heartfelt entry in the Loughborough Echo on 26th October 1917:
“JACQUES – In loving memory of Sergt J N Jacques, of the Leicestershire Regiment, who was killed in action on September 28th 1917.
Our home is dark without our loved one,
Aching hearts alone can tell;
The circle of our home is broken,
The reason none but God can tell.
From Mr and Mrs R Sutton and Family.”
The part the Suttons played in John’s life is not known for certain, but it seems probable that he lived with them after his mother Martha died. Robert Sutton, a bricklayer, and his wife Eliza were in their 60s when John was killed. They lived at what is now 104 Leicester Road, where they had also brought up their six children.
Below:
On 5th January 1916, John’s photograph appeared with many others in the Leicester Illustrated Chronicle. Underneath, it said that his sister lived at 73 Carley Street in Leicester. This is an old part of the city near Wharf Street, which was later demolished under a slum clearance programme. John’s sister Daisy had married Fred White in Loughborough in 1910, and they had later moved to Carley Street. She would have been John’s next of kin.
John’s family do not appear to be related to another Jacques family that came to Quorn in the early 1920s, when a young teacher called Walter Jacques came from the Market Bosworth area to teach at Rawlins Grammar School.
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Missing information: |
Can anyone provide a better photograph of John Jacques?
Please email us at:
team2024@quornmuseum.com |
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Submitted on: |
2020-01-13 |
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Submitted by: |
Sue Templeman |
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Artefact ID: |
2302 |
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Artefact URL: |
www.quornmuseum.com/display.php?id=2302 |
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