Biography

Young James Waddell; suffered  for 10 days before succumbing to his fateful condition.  He was admitted to the Menzies General Hospital on the 4th December suffering from fever and haemorrhage. James had been working on the Queensland Menzies mine for the past four months.

James' father, Thomas Malcolm Waddell, was born 7 February 1838 in Clare Village, County Armagh, Northern Ireland.  Mary Best was born 3 August 1843.  The couple married in Bainbridge, County Down, on 1 September 1860, and their first son, George, was born 11 July 1862 in Clare, Armagh.  The little family then migrated to Australia, landing in Queensland about 1866. 

James was the sixth in a family of seven children born to Mary and Thomas Waddell.  There were six boys and 1 girl in the family.  James' other siblings were: Malcolm born 14 October 1867 in Gympie, Queensland; Margaret Jane born 26 June 1869 in Gympie;  Thomas born 5 December 1871 in Gympie; Francis born 23 June 1873 in Gympie; James born 22 February 1878.  Their father died on 18 October that same year, leaving Mary to cope with seven children aged between 16 years and 8 months.   Mary died on 3 September 1893 in Gympie.  By that time, her youngest child was 15 years of age and they were needing to find their own way in the world.