Upchurch Film Star and Extrovert of the 1940s

James Robertson Justice.

David Wood.

Although more than half a century has passed since he lived in the area, actor James Robertson Justice is still remembered by older parishioners as an out of the ordinary resident of Upchurch. Well known as Doctor Sir Lancelot Spratt in the classic 1950s and 1960s ‘Doctor at Large’ films, Justice starred in over eighty British films after being spotted by an Ealing Studios writer at the Players Theatre Club in London during the 1940s. He appeared in box office hits like ‘The Guns of Navarone’, ‘Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines’ and ‘Moby Dick’. He also starred alongside 1960s sex symbols Diana Dors and Bridget Bardot.

Educated at Marlborough College and a science student at University College London, Justice held two doctorates and was a big man of six feet two inches with a beard and a booming well spoken accent. Amongst his early experiences he worked as a lumberjack and English teacher in Canada, a policeman in Germany, a journalist for Reuters, he managed the British ice hockey team, he fought in the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and he got wounded while serving in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in 1943. After getting discharged from the navy he arrived at Ham Green in Upchurch and resided in a farm worker’s cottage known today as ‘Greylag.’

A larger than life character who loved nature, Justice was also an expert falconer, a keen ornithologist and spent time bird watching on the sea wall and saltings, sometimes accompanied by well known contemporary TV wildlife presenter Sir Peter Scott. He later became a member of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and invented the rocket propelled net for catching wildfowl. He was also a keen naturalist and often swam naked in the river with lady friends visiting him from London. Marj Davies from Horsham Lane informed me that her father, Charles Barling from Bayford Farm, warned her to keep away from the river when Justice was there with his female companions, although the actor sometimes joined the Barling family for a meal and a chat in Bayford farmhouse when not otherwise engaged. Several times he was spotted walking the Ham Green peninsular in a kilt playing a set of bagpipes and became a regular in ‘The Crown’ where he joined locals for a drink and a yarn.

Known as ‘Crackerbarrel’ to the village children because of his appearance in cheese adverts, Justice caused controversy in 1944 when a flashing light was spotted coming from his bedroom window during the wartime blackout. This led to rumours that he was a German spy and after several police warnings about breaking the blackout law he was cautioned at Sittingbourne Magistrates Court.
At the end of the Second World War Justice left the area and became a well known film actor. He also taught Prince Charles falconry while living in Scotland and became a personal friend of Prince Philip. He served as rector of Edinburgh University and also contested the Scottish constituency of North Angus and Mearns for the Labour Party in 1950. He died penniless after a series of strokes in 1975 but is still remembered in Upchurch as a great character of the parish.

About David:
David Wood was born and raised in Upchurch and is able to write from personal experience about many people and aspects of the village and of changes that have taken place over the years making ‘Memories of Upchurch’ a very readable book and a detailed historical study of the village. David's book ‘Memories of Upchurch’ is available direct from David on:  david3702001@yahoo.co.uk  price £12 + p+p £2.

David Wood
space