Facts and Figures

Descendants of Charles and Frances Barkley – some facts and figures

1. Ladies lived longer

Charles and Frances’s four surviving children produced 31 grandchildren. Adding 18 spouses but subtracting three grandchildren who died in infancy and two where dates of birth or death are unknown, we are left with 44 grandchildren and their spouses. 21 males lived to an average age of 63 while 23 females lived to an average age of 72. The men didn't fare so well but most of Charles and Frances’s granddaughters and granddaughters-in-law lived beyond three score years and ten at a time when modern medicine was in its infancy and diseases such as tuberculosis and cholera claimed many lives. They must have had robust constitutions, although having servants to look after them and do the hard work will surely have contributed to their longevity.

Looking at the great grandchildren and their spouses, excluding infants dying in their first year and people whose dates of birth or death are unknown, 64 males lived to an average age of 65 and 63 females lived to an average age of 72. Females in the next generation, 75 great-great grandchildren and their spouses, had longer lives, living to an average age of 78. The situation was different for the 81 male great-grandchildren and their spouses. The First World War claimed seven of their lives; they lived to an average age of 65.

The First World War must surely have contributed to 17 of the 41 great-great granddaughters, over 40%, never getting married. Over 35% of the granddaughters and 20% of the great granddaughters never married. Before feeling too sorry for the ladies who never found husbands bear in mind that they often lived for longer than their married sisters; the five spinster granddaughters lived to an average age of 83 while the nine married granddaughters lived to an average age of 72. The percentage of grandsons, great grandsons and great-great grandsons who remained bachelors was considerably less than that of their female counterparts. In each of the three generations the bachelors lived shorter lives than their married brothers; quite a few of them died as young men before they had started to think about finding a wife.

Average family size declined dramatically over the generations. Charles and Frances’s four children produced 31 grandchildren, average number of children 7.75. The 20 grandchildren who married produced 85 great grandchildren, average number of children 4.25. The 60 great grandchildren known to be married produced 117 great-great grandchildren, average number of children 1.95; over a fifth of these marriages, 13 in total, were childless.

None of Charles and Frances’s grandchildren had a marriage that ended in divorce. One great granddaughter became a divorcee. At least three marriages of great-great grandchildren ended in the divorce court.

2. Men took up arms

Most of Charles and Frances Barkley’s male descendants had to work for a living. A small number are recorded in censuses as living on ‘own means’; they generally had land and property and probably income from shares. Some of them served as JPs. The ladies were generally not expected to work and figures below relate to male descendants and husbands of female descendants. Charles and Frances’s sons and sons-in-law were not military men but a military career was a favoured option for a large number of their male descendants. Over 40% of the third generation males pursuing an occupation were professional officers in the army (18 men), navy (5 men) or air force (4 men). At least 20 army officers over the three generations served in the Indian Army. Figures here are calculated on the basis of one occupation per person; some military men pursued other careers after resigning their commission, for example taking up options to acquire land and become farmers in the colonies.

The Anglican Church was a favoured option in the nineteenth century and nine Barkley descendants became solicitors, barristers or judges. Civil engineering provided employment opportunities in Victorian England; Barkley descendants built railways, piers, tunnels and sewage systems in this country and overseas. The demand for iron and steel was met by Barkley descendants owning and managing iron works and collieries in North East England. Merchants traded in tea, sherry and coal and financiers worked at the Bank of England and the Stock Exchange as well as in Insurance. Tea estates in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and India attracted seven Barkley descendants. Most of those whose occupation is recorded her as farming were not cultivating English soil; one family were working on ‘estancias’ in Argentina, others found their way to ranches in Northern Australia and Canada was a favoured destination.

The focus here is on male occupations. Equal opportunities was certainly not a mainstream concept in the nineteenth century. It is quite possible that a number of the ladies found useful things to do in addition to being a ‘housewife’, but census records don’t record this. It is certainly worth noting that Charles and Frances’s great-great granddaughter, Eileen Younghusband, was a hugely influential figure in Social Work training in this country and overseas and the First World War brought about opportunities in nursing that were taken up by other great-great granddaughters.

3. Many sailed to faraway lands

Well over half of Charles and Frances Barkley’s male grandchildren, great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren (or their spouses) were born or lived overseas and considerable percentage of these spent time in the Indian subcontinent. A common pattern was to spend a working life in the Indian army, police force or colonial administration or be a tea planter and then retire to live comfortably in Devon or Cornwall. This did not always happen. Eight died in India and two returned from India to England to end their days in a ‘hospital for the insane’. Those who went to Canada, USA, Australia, South Africa and Argentina generally did not return to the UK. The figures above exclude those who saw the world by joining the navy and those who died on foreign soil in the First World War.

A grandson, Robert Barkley Shaw, and a great grandson, Sir Francis Younghusband, were awarded gold medals by the Royal Geographical Society in recognition of their contributions to exploration. Two grandsons, brothers George and Henry Barkley, made a 96 day horseback journey across Turkey.

Those who travelled to foreign lands were brave and they were curious; they were also competitive and travelled with self-confidence derived from an innate sense of British superiority.

4. Many fought in World Wars

Eight of Charles and Frances Barkley’s great grandchildren or great-great grandchildren died in the First World War; the youngest was 18 years old and six of them lost their lives in their early twenties. Another 52 served and survived. Most were officers. The death rate for great-great grandsons was 17.5%, higher than the national death rate. In a BBC website article ‘10 big myths about World War One debunked’ Dan Snow noted that

‘Although the great majority of casualties in WW1 were from the working class, the social and political elite were hit disproportionately hard by WW1. Their sons provided the junior officers whose job it was to lead the way over the top and expose themselves to the greatest danger as an example to their men. Some 12% of the British army's ordinary soldiers were killed during the war, compared with 17% of its officers.’

Three great-great grandsons joined the Royal Flying Corps, the air of the British Arm operating from 1912 to 1918 when it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service to form the RAF. Two died in action within a few weeks of obtaining their wings and one suffered injuries. By the end of the war total RFC, RNAS and RAF casualties were more than 9,000 killed or missing and more than 7,000 wounded; the fatality rate was one in four. Many of the young pilots died while training in the UK and many others perished less than a month after arriving at the front.

Some of the great-great grandchildren were too young to fight in the First World War but were involved in the Second World War; three of them died in this war and another 12 were serving in the armed forces.

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I am one of many descendants of Charles and Frances Barkley. Learning about the lives of some of my distant relatives has provided insights into the ages in which they lived. They clearly belonged to the upper or upper middle classes; most people led harder, shorter and less privileged lives. I do not know how representative of their class this family is but it feels like they were not untypical. Looking at the lives of Barkley descendants you can sense self confidence and progress in the nineteenth century that was followed by the trauma of the First World War, after which life was never quite the same again.