Jimmy Durham
{{Short description|First African soldier in the British Army (1883–1910)}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = James Francis Durham
| image = Jimmy Durham.jpg
| image_size = 300
| caption = James Francis Durham in 1909
| birth_date = {{Circa|1883}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|1910|08|08|1883|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Sudan
| death_place = Fermoy, County Cork, Ireland
| death_cause = Pneumonia
| placeofburial = Fermoy Military Cemetery
| placeofburial_label =
| birth_name = Mustapha
| allegiance = {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} United Kingdom
| branch = {{army|United Kingdom}}
| serviceyears = 1899 {{ndash}} 1910
| rank = Private first class
| servicenumber = 6758
| unit = Durham Light Infantry
| known_for = First African soldier in the British Army
| spouse = Jane Green
| children = Frances Durham
}}
James Francis Durham ({{Circa|1883}} {{ndash}} 8 August 1910), originally named Mustapha ({{Langx|ar|مصطفي}}), was a Sudanese child found and adopted by the Durham Light Infantry after the Battle of Ginnis in 1885 during the Mahdist War. He is likely the first African soldier in the British Army.{{Cite web |title=BBC - Tyne Roots - Black History Month - The story of Jimmy Durham the first Black African to join the British Army as a fully enlisted soldier |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/tyne/roots/2003/10/jimmydurham.shtml |access-date=2025-01-19 |website=www.bbc.co.uk}}{{Cite web |last=O'Keeffe |first=Donal |date=2018-02-14 |title=Jimmy Durham, the only Black soldier in Victoria's Army, buried in Fermoy |url=https://avondhupress.ie/jimmy-durham-the-only-black-soldier-in-victorias-army-buried-in-fermoy/ |access-date=2025-01-19 |website=The Avondhu Newspaper |language=en-GB}}
Biography
In 1885, a young Mustapha was found alone near the Nile by the 2nd Battalion of The Durham Light Infantry (DLI) after the Battle of Ginnis against the Mahdist State.{{Cite web |last=Donald |first=Kevin |date=2017-06-16 |title=The amazing story of the only black soldier to serve in Queen Victoria's Army |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/amazing-story-jimmy-durham-only-10636596 |access-date=2025-01-19 |website=The Mirror |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Jimmy Durham's life |url=https://durhamrecordoffice.org.uk/learning-zone/the-story-of-jimmy-durham/jimmys-life/ |access-date=2025-01-19 |website=durhamrecordoffice.org.uk}} Following the battle, a patrol led by Lieutenant Henry de Lisle found the child near a river barge on the Nile. The boy's father, a Sheik, had been killed in the battle, and his mother had fled, leaving him alone. The regiment adopted him, first naming him Jimmy Dervish before christening him James Francis Durham, named after two soldiers and the regiment itself, and he was raised within the battalion.
Initially treated as a regimental mascot, James quickly adapted, learning English and integrating into the DLI's life. The soldiers paid for his education as they travelled through Egypt and India, where he learned to play the bugle. In 1899, at approximately 14, he officially joined the DLI as a boy bandsman, an enlistment approved by Queen Victoria due to its unique nature. On 23 May 1899, James – Boy Soldier Number 6758 – became the first African soldier in the British Army.
Known for his athleticism and commitment to temperance, he managed the battalion's branch of the Army Temperance Association.
In 1908, James returned to England with the regiment, where he married Jane Green of Bishop Auckland, the daughter of a local blacksmith and sister of a Quartermaster Sergeant with the DLI. While stationed in Fermoy, Ireland, he died of pneumonia on 8 August 1910,{{Cite book |last=Sheen |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1WLNDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22James+Francis+Durham%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA1902 |title=Steel of the DLI: Second Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry at War 1914–1918 |date=2010-03-10 |publisher=Casemate Publishers |isbn=978-1-78340-990-7 |pages=1902 |language=en}} just weeks before the birth of his daughter, Frances.{{Cite web |title=The Story of Jimmy Durham |url=https://durhamrecordoffice.org.uk/learning-zone/the-story-of-jimmy-durham/ |access-date=2025-01-19 |website=durhamrecordoffice.org.uk}} He was buried in Fermoy Military Cemetery.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qn8MAQAAMAAJ&q=%22James+Francis+Durham%22+-wikipedia |title=A Sense of Fermoy |date=1984 |publisher=J.J. Bunyan |pages=21 |language=en}}
References
External links
- {{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uvN2tcpiZc |title=Sudanese Dervish Orphan Who Became the British Army's First Black Soldier in 1899 |date=2023-01-12 |last=The History Chap |access-date=2025-01-19 |via=YouTube}}