Four volumes relating to the Royal Navy service of Thomas Norman James in the years 1899-1917:

Officer’s journal and remark book kept by James between November 1899 and August 1907, including details of wind and weather, barometer and thermometer readings. During this period, James was a sub-lieutenant and then lieutenant, serving on the cruiser HMS BELLONA (1890), the battleship HMS ROYAL SOVEREIGN (1891), the cruiser HMS HYACINTH (1898) , and then the cruiser HMS DIANA (1895), mainly in the Mediterranean and East Indies.

Personal diaries kept by James, in three volumes for the years 1915, 1916 and 1917, the last with entries up to 24 July 1917 only. They cover his service as a commander on the battleship HMS TEMERAIRE (1907), including at the Battle of Jutland.

Administrative / biographical background
James was born at Bangalore, India, in 1878. During the First World War he served as a commander on the battleship HMS TEMERAIRE (1907) and then had an appointment on the staff of the Second Sea Lord at the Admiralty. He had a series of seagoing commands between 1918 and 1928, and was rear-admiral in charge and admiral superintendent at Gibraltar between 1931 and 1933. He was placed on the retired list at his own request in 1934 and died in Buckinghamshire in 1965. His record of service in the Royal Navy can be found under the references ADM 196/45/32 and ADM 196/90/161 at The National Archives.