The public page
Henry Andrew James
1957 - 2025
His favourite song was 'Don't forget to dance'
by the Kinks.
1961 - 2025
His favourite song was 'Don't forget to dance'
by the Kinks.
Biography & Timeline
Henry was the third of nine children, born in Edgbaston, Birmingham. After moving to Ireland, he attended All Saints Primary School in Antrim. He worked as a labourer, joiner, and shop assistant before pursuing his passion for art at the University of Ulster and then Fine Art at Manchester Metropolitan University . Henry became a Secondary School Teacher in Yorkshire, married, and had three children. In retirement, he enjoyed painting and gardening, blending his love for art outdoors and landscaping.
1957
Born in Birmingham
1970
Moved to Ireland
Art School Graduation
1989
1996
Became a teacher
2004
Got Married
2025
Retired businessman
Watch Video Tribute
Sheared Memories
'Snake Eyes' Coles
"He was a great fellow altogether."
Henry's favourite Poem was from The Shropshire Lad by A. E. Housman - 'Loveliest of Trees the Cherry Now.'
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A x S 4 j t E
and unseen by the general public
The Personal Pages
All About Henry.
Henry had a way of making ordinary moments feel like they mattered. Whether it was sharing a quiet cup of tea, telling a story that somehow got longer each time he told it, or offering help before anyone had even asked, he had a gift for bringing people together. He loved music, poetry, and the simple things in life, and the memories he leaves behind are woven through the lives of family and friends who knew him. This space is a place to remember those moments — the big ones and the small ones — that made Henry who he was.
Henry's Younger Years
1957
Edgbaston, Birmingham
Henry was born in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, on 1st of December 1957, third child of John (Derek James) and Mary James (Nee keenan). Quiet moments were rare, and conversation was constant. As the third of nine, he learned early how to listen before speaking, often watching family life unfold around him. It wasn’t something anyone taught him directly, but it stayed with him—the sense that every voice had its place.
1957 - New Street, Birmingham
1965
Busy City
1965 - Henry, 6 years old (far left). Left back row; Annie, Robert, Wendy, Barbra, Alice and Nora, Front row; Freddie, and Loise in the front.
Henry grew up in Birmingham in the1960s, a city shaped by industry, noise, and, at times, conflict and racial tension. He remembered seeing Gravelly Hill Interchange—better known as Spaghetti Junction—for the first time at six years old; he would watch as roads and streets filled with workers and buses, the rhythm of daily life feeling both busy and strangely familiar. In a large household with eight siblings, space was something you learned to share early, and conversation often overlapped into laughter or disagreement. Henry would later say he always chose the laughter, as though it were a decision he made long before he knew why.
1969 - Watching the Moon landing
1969
Moon landing
At the age of 12, Henry was allowed to stay up late on Sunday 20th July 1969 to watch the moon landing. He often spoke about the night he and his family gathered around their small black-and-white television to watch Apollo 11 touch down on the moon. He would recall hearing the words as they were spoken—“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”—and the quiet that followed in the room. What stayed with him just as much were the slow, weightless movements and the soft bleeps of communication drifting between Houston and the astronauts, as if the distance itself had a sound.
1957 - Mary James with baby Henry, 6th December
1957 - Spagetti Junction, Birmingham
1969 - The first men on the Moon
Living, Studying and Working in Northern Ireland
1971 - Henry and his first encounter with cattle.
1970's
County Antrim, Northern Ireland
In 1970, Henry’s father and mother took their family back home to Northern Ireland. Being Catholic, Henry (13 years old) was sent to a Catholic school, and at All Saints Secondary School he was the new boy for the longest time, finding it hard to settle, particularly in maths. His form teacher Mr. Logan noticed and nurtures Henry's flair for drawing which made a huge impact on Henry's confidence. He would later say the streets felt less crowded and the air much fresher, and he spent much of his time outside, drawing and painting, gradually making friends. He noticed the way people spoke, the easy sense of freedom, and the novel sight of cows, sheep, and horses in fields close to where he now lived—details that stayed with him long after they had become familiar.
1973 - Antrim Town, Co. Antim
1974
The Troubles
1974 - The troubles in Northern Ireland.
To watch a short simplistic version of how the troubles happed, Click -
Why the Troubles started in Northern Ireland
​
Henry found it difficult living in Northern Ireland as the Troubles became more widespread—a thirty-year conflict (circa 1968–1998) between mostly Protestant unionists, who wished to remain in the United Kingdom, and mostly Catholic nationalists, who sought a united Ireland. He once recalled a night in Glenavy, at a dance hall where he had gone to hear his favourite Irish group, The Indians, and where he met the girl he would later describe as his dream girl. After several dances, before they were properly acquainted, gunshots were heard from outside; windows shattered, and the night gave way to chaos as police and army exchanged fire with gunmen. In the confusion that followed, Henry was herded into a back room for safety, and the girl was swept away with the crowd—lost to him, and never seen again.
Click above to play Running Bear by The Indians
1982 - Shop Assistant at Dunlop and Carson's, Church Street, Ballymena
1989
On his way to Art School
Not knowing his career path, after working at McQuillan’s (1976) in Belfast as a labourer for a year, as a joiner at Donnelly’s of Waterfoot for five years (1978-1983), and as a shop assistant in Dunlop and Carson’s in Ballymena for two years (1983-85). Henry began unemploy which weigh heavily on him. He then started to take his drawing more seriously. What had started as something he did in spare moments—on scraps of paper, in the margins of notebooks, sometimes from memory —gradually became a way of making sense of the world around him. Encouraged by a few who noticed his eye for detail, he applied to study art Rupert Standly College, Belfast (1988) and was accepted at the University of Ulster in Belfast (1989). He obtained his Fine Arts degree in 1992 and went on to Manchester Metropolitan University to complete his MA in Fine Art in 1994.
1989 - The University of Ulster at belfast
Became a Teacher, getting Married and Retirement
1995
University of Leeds
1995 - University of Leeds
In 1995, Henry completed his PGCE at the University of Leeds, and by 1996 he had begun work as a secondary school teacher, spending three formative years in Leeds. He often spoke about evenings at the Brudenell Social Club, a long-standing live music venue, where the atmosphere, the noise, and the sense of shared experience stayed with him as much as the music itself. Moving to London, he lived at 89a Henny Place while specialising in Art, working at Lambert Higher Education College on Lambert High Street from 1999 to 2003. Those who worked with him recalled a teacher who valued process over perfection, encouraging students to look a little longer and think a little differently. Henry later joined Notting Hill Secondary, first as a specialist Arts teacher and then as Deputy Head, a role he held until 2017, carrying forward a steady belief that creativity had a place in every student’s life, whether they recognised it or not.
1996 - Henry's first job in teaching
2004
Getting Married
2011 - Gary (age 5), Beth (age 4) and Michael (age 2)
When Henry was working at Lambert, he met Katy from Brighton, who also worked as a teacher in a neighbouring school. They got to know each other over time through regular conversations and seeing each other locally, and their relationship gradually developed. In 2004, Henry married Catherine Louise Faulkner at St. Columbus Chapel, Eastbourne, on Saturday 14th August 2004. They lived together in Notting Hill, first at 70 Gill Street near the Churchill Arms, then on the Broadway above Brown’s Chemist, before settling at 120 Parque Road. They built a steady life together. Henry and Katy had three childen: Gary (2006), Beth (2007) and Michael (2009).
2005 - Notting Hill
2019 - Henry painting - enjoying his retirement
2017
Retirement
Henry retired from teaching in 2017 but kept himself busy with painting, photography, and gardening. He began painting more regularly after retirement and gradually developed a consistent body of work, producing enough pieces to submit to local exhibitions. From around 2018 onwards, he exhibited his work in several local galleries and sold a number of paintings through group shows and small independent exhibitions. He did not take on formal teaching work after retirement but occasionally gave informal advice or support to younger artists he met locally.
Katy continued working in teaching and went part time in 2018, reducing her hours while remaining in the profession. She stayed in education in a reduced capacity rather than fully retiring, balancing work with home life. Sadly, Henry passed away peacefully in his sleep, and will be dearly missed.
2023 - Henry and Katy gardening