Mr James Waugh was born at 47 Silvergrove Street in Belfast, Ireland on 2 May 1885. Hailing from a Presbyterian family and one of eight children, he was the son of Robert Waugh, a baker, and Mary Calvin, both natives of Ballymena, Co Antrim. 

On the 1901 census Waugh and his family were residents of 30 Castlerea Place in south Belfast; when he appears on the 1911 census Waugh was still living with his family, the home address then being 14 Florida Street in south Belfast, and he was described as a general labourer. 

In February 1906 Waugh and an accomplice, Robert Spindlow, were charged with larceny of a gun, a coat and a watch belonging to his father Robert, the pair later pawning the items. Waugh was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment. He would later be charged with other offences over the years, including loitering with intent, larceny and breaking and entering. 

Waugh’s ship prior to Titanic had been the Olympic. He joined Titanic at Belfast for the delivery trip to Southampton where he then disembarked.

With the outbreak of WWI, Waugh was prompt to sign up for service, joining at Belfast in September 1914 with the Royal Irish Fusiliers. He was described as standing at 5’ 10” and weighing 156 lbs, having brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion, as well as a tattoo (clasped hands) on his left forearm. Initially passed as fit for active service, within weeks he was discharged for being considered unfit for service. This was because he was charged with having made a false claim in his attestation papers, having stated that he had never served in any branch of his Majesty’s Army or Navy when in fact he had been attested in the Royal Field Artillery previously but had deserted. He was sentenced to one month’s imprisonment.

What became of James Waugh in later years is not certain.