In December 1948, Hardington Railway Gang No. 7/11 won first prize in a track maintenance competition, a prestigious event designed to reward hard work and dedication. The gang was responsible for the section between Sutton Bingham and Crewkerne stations. The gang comprised Mr A. Brown of Misterton (in charge), Mr J. Berry of Hardington, Mr T. H. Beardsley of Yeovil and Mr W. J. Hillman of East Coker. The second prize for the greatest improvement in track maintenance during the war went to the Sutton Bingham Gang (no. 7/9), of which Mr E. S. Charles of North Lane, Hardington, was in charge for part of the year.[1]
Edward Sidney Charles (1903-1975)
Mr E. S. Charles was Edward Sidney Charles of Underhill, the father of Ted, Dennis and Margaret. In addition to achieving high standards in his railway work, he was an accomplished gardener who won many prizes at the annual village flower show.
Edward was born at Camp, West Coker, on 1 May 1903.[2] His father was a farm labourer and later an estate labourer.[3] His mother, Ellen, was the daughter of John and Amelia White, who lived for many years at 1 Fox Hole Cottages, East Coker.[4]
Edward’s parents briefly lived at Key Road, Yeovil, then moved to West Coker.[5]
Edward worked as a stoker at Mr Gould’s twine factory in West Coker when he was young.[6]
In 1926, Edward married Elsie Rendell of Hardington; they moved to Underhill soon afterwards.[7] 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 extremely welcome and pressing them repeatedly to “have a piece of cake.”
A note on Edward Charles’s ancestry
Edward’s forebears lived at Osmington on the Dorset coast in the eighteenth century. Two years before he was born, his great-grandmother, Many 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, working 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] 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.
[2] Civil Registration of Births; 1939 Register.
[3] RG13, piece 2297, folio 109, page 9; RG14, piece 14387; RG15, piece 11308, schedule 43.
[4] RG12, piece 1895, folio 15, page 1.
[5] RG12, piece 1899, folio 45, page 35.
[6] RG15, piece 11308, schedule 43.
[7] Civil Registration of Marriages.
[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.
