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James Malia (1877-1960)


Four brothers from Durham City served and two misnamed


James Malia was born in Ireland 1857, he came to Durham City to work. This is where he met and married Mary Ann Prendergast (born Durham City 1857). The couple married at Saint Godric’s Roman Catholic Church in Durham in 1876.

They first lived at 113 Framwellgate, Durham and this was the address where all their six sons and two daughters were born: James Malia (born 1877), Thomas Malia (born 1880), Catherine Malia (born 1884), Martin and Michael (born and died in infancy, 1886), John Malia (born 1888), Margaret Malia (born 1891), Joseph Patrick Malia (born 1895).

That is the background of the family. What follows is the story of four of the sons who joined up for the First World War. Two of the brothers were killed in action and their surnames were recorded wrongly in the records.

James Malia, a bricklayers labourer and miner, was the eldest son. He had his first taste of conflict when he joined the 4th Battalion Durham Light Infantry (DLI), for the duration of the Boer War (regimental number 5786). He was finally discharged from service in 1912 from the special reserve regiment under the regimental number 7694. He received the Queen’s South African Medal and Clasp. James got married to Mary Emma Fowler in 1909 in Saint Godric’s Church, and went on to have five sons and four daughters.

James joined up again around 1914 at start of the First World War. He joined 2nd Battalion DLI and was given the regimental number 10249. In 1917 he was transferred to the Labour Corps and was given the new number 21290. James was demobbed in 1919.

While in France, James met up with his younger brother, Joseph Patrick, who had also joined 2 DLI. He found out his brother had signed up with the wrong surname, Clark. This had come about because Joseph Patrick had been had been taken in by his aunt after the death of his mother. He was around nine years old when his mother died and according to the family “he hadn’t been doing the right thing”, presumably getting into some sort of trouble. When he was 14, his aunt who had been his mothers sister, said he could go and live with her family in Shotton Colliery. She was married to William Clark on the 1911 census and Joseph Patrick was living with this family at 24 Victoria along with their seven children. Joseph Patrick worked at the local colliery as a driver. He joined 2 DLI in August 1914 and was given the regimental number 11769. He joined up under the surname of Clark.

When he met up in France with his eldest brother James in 1916, James had said to him that your name surname is Malia not Clark and you should get it changed. They both went to the Sergeant Major to get his surname change to Malia. Sadly, before this was done, Joseph Patrick was killed in action and his records showed that his surname was Clark.

James wrote letters on behalf of his siblings to the army requesting that Joseph Patrick’s Surname should be changed to Malia from Clark and that he and his siblings should receive his medals and effects. After a long investigation in 1921, the family received a letter saying the name Joseph Clark would be still recorded but with an alias of Joseph Patrick Malia and that they would receive his medals and effects.

His headstone is at Maroc British Cemetery Grenay France, grave ref 11.D.12, on this it had the name J Clark. In February 2017 his great-nephew applied to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission with all the supporting documents to have Joseph Patrick Malia put onto this headstone. After their investigation in April 2017, a new headstone had been erected including the name J P Malia on it.

Before the war, their brother, John Malia, was a miner. He joined the army at around the same time as his brothers, serving with the 15th Battalion DLI under the regimental number 15365. When he signed up, the signature on his form looked like the surname Melia instead of Malia. John arrived in France during May 1915. He went missing in action on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, and was assumed dead. His eldest brother, James, and the rest of his siblings informed the army that John’s name had been spelt incorrectly. It was investigated and the family was awarded his medal and his affects. By this point James had become head of the family as in February 1916, their father, James Malia, had died.

Like so many others John’s body was not retrieved for burial but his name is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial in France on pier and face 14a and 15c. However, John’s surname was originally spelt Melia on the Memorial. A request by his great-nephew was made in 2003 to the Commonwealth War Commission to change the name to Malia. The nephew sent them documents to support this after investigation they agreed and it was changed in 2005.

The last of the Malia brothers to serve during the was Thomas Malia. He was a farm labourer and joined up around the same time as his brothers. He served with the Royal Engineers until he was injured around 1917 and transferred to the Agricultural Company (regimental number 332366). He was eventually demobbed in 1919. Thomas sadly died in a farming accident in Durham in 1933 aged 53.

At the age of 61, James applied to join up at the start of the Second World War. He was declined but thanked for his application by the Ministry of Defence. He had two sons who joined up during the Second World War. One of his sons was killed in action serving with the Royal Artillery in the Middle East. James died at his home on Sherburn Road in 1960 at the age of 83.

Civil Parish: Durham Framwellgate

Armed force/civilian: Army

Gender: Male

Contributed by Johnm Durham, Durham

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