Blackpool FC

3 appearances, 5 goals (1 on debut)

P 3 W 3 D 0 L 0 F 13: A 4
100% successful
1930-32

captain: none
minutes played: 270

According to the 1911 census, James is the eldest of two children to Fred and Jane (née Stones), a third child had tragically died before 1911. His sister, Hilda, is just one month old. His father is a coal mine hewer. They live at 201 Manchester Road East in Little Hulton.

According to the 1921 census, James, a haulage hand at the Earl of Ellesmere Bridgewater colliery, is the oldest of four children living at home with their parents, still at 201 Manchester Road. His father is still a coal mine hewer at the same colliery.

"International Footballer Believed Drowned.
"Disaster overtook a party of six men returning from a day's fishing trip off Fleetwood last night. Their yacht collided with a trawler and sank, and two of the men were drowned. They were Jimmmy Hampson, the Blackpool and international footballer, and Mr H. V. Newsome, brother of a former Mayor of Blackpool. Three of the men were rescued by life-lines thrown from the trawler, and the fourth was saved as he clung to the top of the yacht's mast. A young deck hand in the trawler, who jumped into the sea when he heard the men's cries, had to be rescued himself after struggling for 20 minutes in the water. He was wearing a new jersey, the sleeves of which slid down over his hands, making it almost impossible for him to swim.
"The six men were returning from a day's fishing in their 41-feet yacht Defender when their craft collided with the Fleetwood trawler Cameo. The two men drowned were [Hampson and Newsome]. The rescued men are:—Harold Jones and his son, David, of South Promenade, Blackpool; W. H. Peake, of Lowery Terrace, South Shore, Blackpool, and Samuel Colley, skipper of the yacht, of Fleetwood. All the men were in the cockpit, sorting the day's catch, when the yacht collided with the trawler, which was outward bound for the fishing grounds in charge of Skipper J. Ainsworth, of Fleetwood.
"When the trawler returned to port the skipper gave a graphic account of the mishap. 'We were steaming down Wyre Channel and had reached a point about midway between the Wyre Lighthouse and the Promenade when, from the wheelhouse window, I suddenly saw the mast of a yacht right in front of the trawler's bows. A crash seemed inevitable, but I jammed down the telegraph to the engine room for full speed astern. In this way, I avoided a head-on collision, but the yacht, after sheering off, struck the side of our ship near the bows. That yacht sank immediately, and in a flash her occupants were thrown into the sea. We could hear men shouting for help in the darkness from all directions. All hands were on deck. The work of rescue was made extremely difficult because we could not see anyone in the water. We had to manœuvre the trawler in the direction of the cries. We were able to rescue four of the men. Three of them were thrown life-lines, while the fourth was clinging to the top of the yacht's mast with only his head above water.' Other members of the crew told dramatic stories, and the hero of the tragedy was 19-year-old Tom Hargreaves, of Lancaster Road, Knott End. Hargreaves is a deck hand in the trawler, and a few seconds after the collision he saw someone's head floating past the trawler. He immediately threw off his heavy sea clothing and dived over the side. 'I was floundering in the sea for about 20 minutes, but apart David Jones I did not see any of the men from the yacht, and I had enough to do to look after myself, as my jersey was gradually drawing me under'. Eventually Hargreaves himself had to be rescued by his shipmates.
"Cries of the men in the water and also of the trawler men were heard by the man on watch in Fleetwood lifeboat house, and within a few minutes a small boat left the beach manned by the coxswain of the lifeboat and other lifeboatmen. They went out to the scene, but returned without having seen anything of the yacht or the two missing men. Later to-night the ferry service between Fleetwood and Knott End was stopped to enable the steamer Wyresdale, manned by the police, to take part in the search of the channel." - 11 January 1938, The Leeds Mercury.
 
"Mrs Hampsons Double Grief.
"Mrs Hampson gave birth to a stillborn child last Tuesday, and is ill at her home in Woodfield Grove, South Shore, Blackpool. She has not been told of her husband's death. Hampson, although worried by his wife's illness, turned out for Blackpool in the Cup-tie against Birmingham on Saturday, and showed some of the form which earned him international honours and materially assisted Blackpool's weakened side to win. The news of his fate caused shock in the town, many at first refusing to believe it. Hampson was a popular player. Temperamental to a certain degree, he made many friends. He was a keen fisherman, and only last summer had a narrow escape at Fleetwood when the boat from which he was fishing nearly capsized in the wash of a trawler." - 11 January 1938, The Evening Telegraph.
 
"Memorial Service for Jimmy Hampson.
"Mrs. Jimmy Hampson, ill in a Blackpool nursing home, listened on a bedside telephone yesterday to the memorial service at St. John's Church, Blackpool, to her husband, Jimmy Hampson, and Mr. Harry V. Newsome, who were drowned in a yachting accident off Fleetwood. By her side sat Mrs. Newsome. It was the first time the bereaved women had met. And while the two shared their grief silently together crowds inside and outside the church paid their tribute to the two men. The church was crowded and over 1,000, who could not be found accommodation, heard the service relayed to them outside by loud-speakers. The congregation included the Mayor and Mayoress of Blackpool (Alderman and Mrs. J. R. Quayle), members of the Corporation, directors and players of the Blackpool Football Club, members of the local junior football leagues, angling societies, Freemasons, and other organisations." - Monday, 17 January 1938, The Birmingham Gazette
 
"£5 Reward for Finding of Footballer's Body
"Notices offering a reward of £5 for the finding of the body of Jimmy Hampson are displayed in Morecambe and Heysham shop window. One body has been found but that of Hampson's is still missing. It is thought that owing to the weekend storms and high tides the body might have been washed into Morecambe Bay. The reward is offered by the Blackpool F.C. through the police." - Saturday, 22 January 1938, The Guardian
 
"Body not Jimmy Hampson.
"Sergeant Eccles, at an inquest at Coulderton, near Whitehaven, yesterday on a body washed ashore on Saturday, said it was definitely not that of the Blackpool footballer, Jimmy Hampson, who lost his life in a boating accident. It was stated that nothing had come to light which might help towards identification. Verdict of found drowned was returned." - Tuesday, 22 March 1938, The Courier & Advertiser
 
"Widow's Tribute.
"Accompanied by her mother and father, Mrs. Hampson, widow of Jimmy Hampson, [yesterday] visited the spot in the Wyre Channel where her husband was lost a short time ago. When the place where the yacht Defender sank after colliding with the Fleetwood trawler Cameo was reached. Mr. H. A. Howes, superintendent of the Fleetwood branch of the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen, held a short service, and Mrs. Hampson cast a wreath into the sea." - Thursday, 24 March 1938, The Leeds Mercury.

"Memorial to Jimmy Hampson
"Two photographs, of Jimmy Hampson and Mr. Harry Newsome, were unveiled at the Central Bowling and Social Club, Blackpool, last night, by the Mayor (Ald. J. R. Quayle)." - Wednesday, 6 April 1938, The Yorkshire Post.

Source

Douglas Lammings' An English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990], Lan-opc &