Hi Trish, I went through all the online sources and contacted any musical society I could find to see if they might have been an amalgam of earlier songwriters, poets, composers etc. Their historians searched their listings and came back to me with no listing of that name - or with anyone of that name on the lists. When I found out about the Musicians Union and read the account of its formation on the site it seemed to have been the missing link but they didn't have James in their records either. It was a very interesting tale though - and certainly would give a reason why he enlisted in the army to get into a military band in order to get work! The bands were being employed by theatres to provide the backing for silent movies and live shows because the theatre owners didn't have to pay the bandsmen. The MU was up in arms - (almost literally!) and having large public rallies to raise support for their members who have been expected to perform for nothing. Any 'colonial' musician arriving expecting to get employment from his musical skills ub order to cover his living and travelling expenses abroad would be finding he'd landed in a right mess! The obvious solution was to join the army as a bandsman and as a service soldier - which is what James did. (I'd jumped to the conclusion he may well have found his birth father and that if (as highly likely he was) he had been a military man then he'd have urged his 'son' to follow in my footsteps young man! It would have satisfied my grandfather's desire to see the world and have adventure while being paid for the privilege. I can recall the twinkle in his eye as he recounted some of the stories to me as I stood at his knee. He wrote stories for the Bulletin - I vaguely remember seeing copies of them in my mother's papers - but I can't find any online source. My sister and her husband lived with my parents for a while after they married and a lot of papers were stored in the basement to make more room for my sister's belongings in the house - the basement wasn't damp proof and damp and water seepage got to the storage area and the papers became soggy and mouldy - and had to be thrown out. I can'd understand how my parents could be so unaware of the likely problem in the first place! Oh - well! They say, "that's life!" Cheers Ainslie.

Hi Trish, You probably already have this info but you didn't mention it so might be useful. http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/name-408030.html Erin