James was raised in Callington along with his brother John and sisters Margaret &
Mary. Parents were Bernie and Eileen Sexton. Bernie was a shearer and at different
times also did fencing, lumping, wood chopping and other hard physical work. Eileen
was pretty well full time looking after children, taught them to read and be inquisitive and
in those times kept people fed.
Early days meant no running water, no flushing toilet, no electricity very early on then on
an intermittent basis as and when bills were able to be paid. This meant kerosene
lamps and candles to read by and an old wood stove to cook on. An old wood fired
copper for the once a week bath, bits of newspaper used as plates. That was how it was
in those days. Skinny and at times hungry kids that always looked after each other,
would read constantly and knew full well that a job meant the opportunity to get ahead.