James succumbed to pneumonia on November 8th 1918, after suffering influenza for a week. He was forty-three years old. He rests in a familial lair in Cupar Cemetery. The grave is by a new headstone, likely placed following his daughter-in-law’s passing a decade ago.
James was born in Little Dunkeld, Perthshire, on October 21st 1875. He was the eldest surviving child of ploughman James (Sr) and Ann (nee McKenzie). By the time the 1881 Census was taken, the Paul family had relocated to Kilmany in Fife; James, aged five, was attending school. The family had also grown with the arrival of his brother Donald and sister Janet.
A decade later, James had left the family home and boarded in the Brown Household in Cupar. He was employed as an apprentice grocer. In 1901, James was still lodged with the Brown family.
James married Annie Philp Brown in Cupar on January 8th of the following year. Two years later, on April 7th, their daughter Elizabeth was born. Their son, James Hamish, arrived five years later on June 16th.
Shortly after his marriage, James underwent a significant career change when the Fife and Kinross Lunacy Board appointed him house steward at Statheden Mental Asylum in Cupar. He would serve in this role for sixteen years. At the 1911 Census, the Paul family resided on-site with him.
On November 16th, the Fifeshire Advertiser featured a tribute to James, acknowledging that his colleagues held him in high esteem. James also held the post of deacon at St John’s United Free Church in Cupar.
Annie was the executor of his estate. Confirmation took place on April 4th 1919, in Cupar. To the best of my belief, Annie did not remarry. She survived James for thirty-four years. She died on November 30th 1952 and was interred with him.
Sources: Ancestry, British Newspaper Archive, Scotland’s People
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