James Bellamy
Encyclopedia
Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

 The Honourable James Rupert Bellamy MC
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....

 (1881 – October 1929) is a fictional character in the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 period drama
Period piece
-Setting:In the performing arts, a period piece is a work set in a particular era. This informal term covers all countries, all periods and all genres...

 Upstairs, Downstairs
Upstairs, Downstairs
Upstairs, Downstairs is a British drama television series originally produced by London Weekend Television and revived by the BBC. It ran on ITV in 68 episodes divided into five series from 1971 to 1975, and a sixth series shown on the BBC on three consecutive nights, 26–28 December 2010.Set in a...

, that was originally broadcast for five series from 1971 to 1975. He was portrayed by Simon Williams
Simon Williams (actor)
Simon Williams is an English actor known for playing James Bellamy in the period drama Upstairs, Downstairs. Frequently playing upper-class roles, he is also known for playing Dr...

.

James Bellamy is one of the main characters in Upstairs, Downstairs, appearing in 37 episodes, from the third episode of the first series "Board Wages" to the penultimate episode of the fifth and final series "All the King's Horses
All the King's Horses (Upstairs, Downstairs)
All the King's Horses is the fifteenth episode of the fifth and final series of the period drama Upstairs, Downstairs. It first aired on 14 December 1975 on ITV.-Background:...

". Arrogant, irresponsible, and selfish, James is his mother's favourite, and he never truly recovers from her death on the Titanic in 1912. After a few unsuccessful relationships, James marries Hazel Forrest, but their happiness is short-lived due to their disparate backgrounds; she dies in the Spanish flu pandemic
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...

 of 1918. James serves in the Great War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, but is seriously wounded at Passchendaele on the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...

 in 1917, and subsequently never finds a purpose in life or a true love. He commits suicide in 1929, after losing his fortune in the Wall Street Crash
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...

.

Early life

James Rupert Bellamy is born in one of the summer months of 1881 or 1882 (Lady Prudence, an old family friend, reminds his father that he is 30 years of age when he proposes to Hazel in November 1912, in the episode "A Family Secret
A Family Secret
A Family Secret is a 2006 Canadian comedy-drama film. The French language title for the film is Le Secret de ma mère .- Plot :...

", however Hawkesworth explicitly states in the first novelisation of the shows scripts that James is 23 years old in 1904 making 1881 more than likely his birth year), the first child of Richard, a Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 and Lady Marjorie Bellamy
Lady Marjorie Bellamy
The Lady Marjorie Helen Sybil Bellamy was a fictional character in the ITV drama Upstairs, Downstairs...

, the daughter of the 12th Earl of Southwold. He has a sister Elizabeth
Elizabeth Bellamy
Elizabeth Kirbridge is a fictional character in the ITV period drama Upstairs, Downstairs, that was originally broadcast for five series from 1971 to 1975. She was portrayed by Nicola Pagett....

 who is born in 1886 (or 1887). James goes to Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

 and then attends the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...

 and by 1904 he has been commissioned as a Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 in the Life Guards
Life Guards (British Army)
The Life Guards is the senior regiment of the British Army and with the Blues and Royals, they make up the Household Cavalry.They originated in the four troops of Horse Guards raised by Charles II around the time of his restoration, plus two troops of Horse Grenadier Guards which were raised some...

 in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

. James is his mother's favourite, while he has a difficult relationship with his father, who finds his son weak and irresponsible.

Affair with Sarah

In about 1908, James, by now a Captain
Captain (OF-2)
The army rank of captain is a commissioned officer rank historically corresponding to command of a company of soldiers. The rank is also used by some air forces and marine forces. Today a captain is typically either the commander or second-in-command of a company or artillery battery...

, enters an affair with the former house maid
Maid
A maidservant or in current usage housemaid or maid is a female employed in domestic service.-Description:Once part of an elaborate hierarchy in great houses, today a single maid may be the only domestic worker that upper and even middle-income households can afford, as was historically the case...

 Sarah
Sarah Moffat
Sarah Moffat , also known as Sarah Delice and Clémence Dumas, is a fictional character in the ITV drama Upstairs, Downstairs and its spin-off Thomas & Sarah...

, who is now a music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...

 singer and who attends Elizabeth's wedding. Soon, Sarah becomes pregnant by James, who is in debt of around £1350. Sarah gives him some of her earnings. James's regiment contacts his parents about his debts, and he then confesses everything to them. The family solicitor, Sir Geoffrey Dillon, arranges for Sarah to be sent to Lady Marjorie's family home, Southwold, and for James to be transferred to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 with the Sind Horse Regiment, although Lady Marjorie is furious that James has been sent abroad. While he is gone, in the early months of 1909, Sarah returns to Eaton Place, fed up with life at Southwold. The same night she returns, Sarah gives birth to a boy, who dies almost immediately.

Hazel

When James returns from India in May 1910, he brings home with him a well-meaning middle-class, Army Veterinarian Major's daughter named Phyllis Kingman, who he has become engaged to. However, the engagement does not last, as he later admits he does not love her, nor believes she would have fitted in. In early March 1912, Richard hires a secretary, Hazel Forrest and James quickly takes an interest in her. While his parents are away one week-end in April (right before Lady Marjorie's ill-fated trip aboard the Titanic), James insists that Hazel lunch with him in the Dining Room, much to butler Hudson's disapproval. After about seven months of courting, James proposes in November, but Hazel tearfully refuses him. This causes Hazel's father, Arthur Forrest, to visit James. He explains that Hazel was previously married to a drunk, Patrick O'Connor, who beat her. They divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...

d and Hazel moved back in with her parents. Mr. Forrest wants his daughter to be happy, while the prickly Mrs. Forrest is sure the Bellamys would never accept Hazel as a divorced woman (divorce being the shocking, stigmatic thing it was in 1912). James asks Hazel again, and after talking and James letting Hazel know his own sister Elizabeth is a divorced and remarried woman, she accepts his second proposal. They marry in late 1912 or early 1913, and honeymoon
Honeymoon
-History:One early reference to a honeymoon is in Deuteronomy 24:5 “When a man is newly wed, he need not go out on a military expedition, nor shall any public duty be imposed on him...

 in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

.
The middle-class Hazel has difficulty adapting to James' upper-class world. On a hunting weekend to Somerby, Lord Newbury's country house, the other guests encourage her to surprise James and join the hunt, something she has never done before. However, Diana Newbury, a childhood friend of James, had secretly swapped the horses and gives Hazel a spirited horse that bolts and runs away with Hazel, who escapes largely uninjured. She and James then argue, as he feels humiliated. This, in addition to Major Cochrane-Danby claiming that James and Diana are sleeping together, leads Hazel to flee Somerby with Rose. James follows her back to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 when he discovers she has left, and they soon make up. In mid-1914, Hazel suffers a miscarriage. By now, James had left the Army and was working for Jardines
Jardine Matheson Holdings
Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited often referred to as Jardines, is a multinational corporation incorporated in Bermuda and based in Hong Kong. While listed on the London Stock Exchange and the Singapore Exchange, the vast majority of Jardines shares are traded in Singapore...

 in London (where he had been working since early 1912, if not before) and plans to transfer to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 in 1915, until the Great War intervenes. James and Hazel's relationship quickly deteriorates, and by August 1914, they are sleeping in separate bedrooms. The often-unfaithful James has also grown increasingly fond of Georgina, his step-cousin and father's ward, who had arrived to live at Eaton Place right before Christmas in December 1913.

The Great War

As the start of the Great War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 approaches, James is called back to service as he is still on the Army's Reserve of Officers. He serves at the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...

 and fights in the Second Battle of Ypres
Second Battle of Ypres
The Second Battle of Ypres was the first time Germany used poison gas on a large scale on the Western Front in the First World War and the first time a former colonial force pushed back a major European power on European soil, which occurred in the battle of St...

. In April 1915, he returns home on leave, and during a dinner at which Sir Geoffrey Dillon is present, makes comments about the incompentent running of the war. These comments are soon published in The Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...

, and while the comments are unattributed, it is soon traced to James, who is transferred to become General Staff Officer
General Staff
A military staff, often referred to as General Staff, Army Staff, Navy Staff or Air Staff within the individual services, is a group of officers and enlisted personnel that provides a bi-directional flow of information between a commanding officer and subordinate military units...

, a post miles behind the front line, much against James's wishes. The following year, while again home on leave, Hazel sees how unhappy he is, and she secretly asks the colonel to transfer James back to the Front Line. The colonel agrees, and James is reassigned to the Guards Division
Guards Division
The Guards Division is an administrative unit of the British Army responsible for the administration of the regiments of Foot Guards and the London Regiment.-Introduction:...

 of the Machine Gun Corps
Machine Gun Corps
The Machine Gun Corps was a corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front in World War I. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use tanks in combat, and the branch was subsequently turned into the Tank...

.

When Georgina arrives in France as a VAD
Voluntary Aid Detachment
The Voluntary Aid Detachment was a voluntary organisation providing field nursing services, mainly in hospitals, in the United Kingdom and various other countries in the British Empire. The organisation's most important periods of operation were during World War I and World War II.The...

 nurse in June 1916, she arrives at her hospital and meets James, who is now a Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

. They spend the day together, and before they part at the end of the day, they kiss. For his part in the Battle of the Somme, James is awarded the Military Cross
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....

. In October 1917, James participates in one of the many skirmishes in the Battle of Passchendaele and is reported "missing believed killed". After ten days, he turns up seriously wounded at Georgina's hospital. Against Georgina's advice, Richard and Hazel take him back to London in a private ambulance (a converted limousine provided by James' maternal grandmother, the old Dowager Duchess of Southwold). When back home and talking to Richard, he tells him about his ten days missing; a German officer was about to shoot him when he found him injured in a shell hole, but, for some unknown reason, he did not, and gave James the chance to shoot him instead. James also says that he felt his mother's presence while in the shell hole. James sees no further active service for the rest of the war. On 8 November 1918, days before its end, Hazel dies during the Spanish flu
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...

 pandemic, and is buried on Armistice Day.

Post-war years

After the war, James has difficulty adapting to life outside the army. In February 1920, he writes a letter to The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

regarding the treatment of former soldiers. On the strength of that letter, he is persuaded to stand as Conservative candidate in an upcoming by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

 in the Docklands seat of Rotherhithe East, a safe Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 seat. While he loses the election, he reduces the Labour majority and Conservative Central Office
Conservative Campaign Headquarters
Conservative Campaign Headquarters , formerly known as Conservative Central Office is the headquarters of the British Conservative Party, housing its central staff and committee members....

 want him to stand again. However, he has no further interest in politics. A chance encounter with Diana Newbury, his former flame and wife of his best friend, in May 1923 leads to them going to stay in a country cottage together for a week. They then decide to almost-elope, however, a note left by Diana to Bunny is read earlier than expected and before they can leave Britain, Richard finds out and insists James returns to London. While Bunny says that Diana may divorce him if that is what she truly wants, James and Diana agree that time has moved on and they could not live together.

In 1927 or 1928, while holidaying in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, James tells Georgina that he loves her. But she says that she does not love him in that way anymore, and early the next morning he leaves without saying goodbye to anybody. He then goes to Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 and sails to New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 to stay with Elizabeth, who had moved there with her husband Dana around 1911. James does not return until October 1929, and has more money thanks to the stock market
Stock market
A stock market or equity market is a public entity for the trading of company stock and derivatives at an agreed price; these are securities listed on a stock exchange as well as those only traded privately.The size of the world stock market was estimated at about $36.6 trillion...

. However, on 24 October, the stock market crashes
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...

 and James loses his entire fortune. Days before he had encouraged Rose to invest the £1200 she had received from Gregory Wilmot in his will
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...

, and she too loses all her money. He and Richard have a heated argument about this, as James cannot repay Rose the money she has lost, and how James has failed to make anything of himself despite his upbringing and all his advantages. James privately goes to a hotel in Maidenhead
Maidenhead
Maidenhead is a town and unparished area within the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England. It lies on the River Thames and is situated west of Charing Cross in London.-History:...

and commits suicide by shooting himself.
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