Introduction
Edward Sidney Charles of Underhill, Hardington, was the father of Ted, Dennis and Margaret. He worked as a railway ganger and was an accomplished gardener, winning many prizes at the annual village flower show.
Childhood
Edward was born on 1 May 1903 at Camp, West Coker, the eighth of nine children born to James and Ellen Charles.[1] His father was initially a farm labourer and later worked as an estate labourer.[2] His mother was the daughter of John and Amelia White, who lived for many years at 1 Fox Hole Cottages, East Coker.[3]
The family briefly lived in Key Road, Yeovil, before moving to West Coker.[4]
In his youth, Edward worked as a stoker at Mr Gould’s twine factory at West Coker.[5]
Marriage
In 1926, Edward married Elsie Rendell of Hardington and soon moved to Underhill.[6]
Railway prize
In December 1948, Sutton Bingham Gang (no. 7/9), led by Edward for part of the year, won second prize in a track maintenance competition for the greatest improvement in track maintenance during the war.[7]
Married life
Edward combined his railway work with running a smallholding, where he kept chickens, geese and goats.[8] Elsie was a lovely woman with a kind and generous nature, always making visitors feel extremely welcome and pressing them repeatedly to “have a piece of cake.”
Death
Edward died on 13 July 1975 at the age of 72, and Elise died in 1994 at the age of 88.
Ancestry
Edward’s ancestors lived at Osmington on the Dorset coast during the eighteenth century. Two years before his birth, his great-grandmother, Mary Charles, died at Osmington at the age of 98.[9] Her husband, Henry, had been a fisherman at Osmington, and three of their sons served in the Royal Navy.[10]
A fourth son, Frederick Adolphus Charles, moved inland and worked as a shepherd at Charminster, where he married Mary Mutter Northcott of Northeigh, Devon, in 1857.[11] They had two sons (Edward’s father, James, and George, who died aged 5) and three daughters. One of the daughters married Thomas Dowd, a Scottish sergeant in the 3rd Dorset Regiment.[12]
References
[1] Civil Registration of Births; 1939 Register.
[2] RG13, piece 2297, folio 109, page 9; RG14, piece 14387; RG15, piece 11308, schedule 43.
[3] RG12, piece 1895, folio 15, page 1.
[4] RG12, piece 1899, folio 45, page 35.
[5] RG15, piece 11308, schedule 43.
[6] Civil Registration of Marriages.
[7] Western Gazette, 24 December 1948, p.7. Frederick John Marsh of Pitts Farm, Corscombe, was in charge for the other part of the year. He was born at Hardington.
[8] Kelly’s Directory of Somerset, 1939; Western Gazette, 19 September 1941, p.5.
[9] Osmington Burial Register.
[10] Osmington Baptism Register, entry for 7 March 1827; Royal Navy Service Records.
[11] RG9, piece 1356, folio 36, page 34; RG10, piece 2013, folio 41, page 40; Civil Registration Marriage Indexes.
[12] West Fordington Marriage Register: entry for 22 April 1884.
