His year of birth is based on the age of 46 given in his burial record and it is assumed that he was born in Pill as his children were born there and he was buried there. However, a search of the Baptismal register for Easton in Gordano for the years 1788-1800 was fruitless. A more general search of the counties of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset was also fruitless. Without a baptismal record it is impossible to determine who his parents were and thus trace his ancestors.

His wife's death certificate and his children's baptismal records all give his occupation as Waterman and it is assumed that he started work as a ship's boy around the age of 12. As a boy he would row the Pilot over to a ship and then help the waterman who was the only other member of the crew sail the cutter back to Pill. After serving his time as a boy he would have been engaged as a waterman and it is assumed that he remained so until he died.

It is known from the 1851 Census that his wife Charlotte was a widow by the date of the census. The 1841 Census does not record marital status however there is no record of her husband living at the same address which indicates that either her husband was away at sea (it is assumed that as he was a westerman working on the Bristol Channel Pilot Cutters) or was dead. As Charlotte is shown as working as a charwoman as are two of her children it is assumed that James was dead rather than away at sea. A search of the death index between September 1837 (when registration started) and 1841 produced a James Adams whose death was registered in the Bedminster district which covered Pill in the quarter ending June 1838. However, when the associated Death Certificate was obtained it was for a James Adams aged 70 living in Long Ashton which is near Bristol. Obviously not the husband of Charlotte. It would therefore appear that he died between 1834 (based on the latest date that his youngest child Martha could have been conceived) and June 1837 after which death registrations started and a burial record relating to a James Adams for 9 August 1835 was found. His age at death (46) is a reasonable fit with his assumed age which was based on his wife's age and their children's ages. The record does not give the exact date of death but it is assumed that he died a few days before he was buried.

Address: Pill, Easton-in-Gordano, Somerset

His wife Charlotte would have been there but who else is not known. The 1874 Crockord's Clerical Directory indicates that in 1835 the Rev. Goldney was appointed Chaplain of Bermuda Dockyard so this may have been a temporary 'fill in' for the Vicar who was Henry Mirehouse.