(Matthew) Charles MARGRETT
Ancestral line: Charles 1870, Henry Stephen 1842, Charles 1809, Stephen 1778, ?Stephen 1738.........Family Tree number 14.
Born: 10OCT1870 @ 2 Grove Place, Leamington, Warwickshire, England
Fourth of nine children of
Father: Henry Stephen 1842
Mother: Mary Burnham
Charles Married: in abt 1889
Charles Spouse: Elizabeth Burwell
Charles' 5 Children: Hilda Elizabeth 1890
Alice Gertrude 1892
Charles William 1894
Dorothy Annie 1896
Hannah Nancy 1901
Death: untraced
We have a copy of Charles' October 1870 birth certificate showing he was born at home, 2 Grove Place, Leamington in the registration district of Warwick. Very unusually, the certificate has a time of birth, 20 minutes past 8 in the morning. This was the usual practice for a multiple birth but not often seen for an individual. Charles' father (Henry Stephen) is a gas fitter and he registered his sons birth himself in early November.
In April 1871 - here's a funny thing; at a new address (2 Milton Place, Leamington), six months after the birth, we see that the family has moved. And here's an even funnier thing - there are only two children at home when there should be three; Richard and Henry, twins aged 2 and Charles aged 6 months. Instead the Census records the presence of Richard (one of the twins) and a “William” aged 5 months. Where can Henry be?
What is not explained is where the twin called Henry might be. He has not been traced yet in 1871, but ten years later in 1881 we see Henry elsewhere living with Richard Crowdy, married aged 66 and where Henry is recorded as his grandson, aged 12 and still at school. It is likely that the twins were separated at a very early age, one staying with his parents and the other with these grandparents.
The mystery of Charles being called “William” might be his parents using a familiar name. This would explain why no “Charles” has been traced in the subsequent ten-yearly 1881 and 1891 census returns. But then in 1901 at 11 Gordon Street, Leamington we can see Charles called Charles. He is aged 31 and recorded as the head of the household, married to an Elizabeth who is ten years older than he. Charles is a builders clerk and the census says he is employed; he is a worker. He has four children, as above (Hilda Elizabeth, Alice Gertrude, Charles William, and Dorothy Annie) of which the oldest is aged ten, and this suggests that Charles got married in, say, 1890 eleven years previously. His wife, Elizabeth, is expecting because later in 1901 their fifth and last child (Hannah Nancy) will be born.
All this is confirmed when we can see the family again ten years later in 1911. They've now moved to 4 Villiers Street, but still in Leamington. The 1911 census returns were the first to be actually completed by the householder. So, Charles has recorded that he has been married 20 years, confirming 1890 as their marriage year. He also records that they had five children who all were living at the time. The two eldest daughters are living elsewhere by now, and the other three children remain at home; son Charles is aged 16 and is working as a house furnishers porter; his sisters Dorothy, 14 and Hannah, 9, are both still at school. Charles himself records that he is aged 41 and the foreman of an upholstery department of drapers and furnishers. This tells us how his son Charles got his job.
Family happenings come one after another. 1913 Alice married Joseph Hinton in Coventry. Then, in1917 daughter Dorothy gets married to Alfred Yendall in Warwick and Hilda marries Walter Hewitt in Warwick. Were they on the same date at at the same venue? We have not yet discovered.
Ten years later, in 1921, the family are at 4 Villiers Street, North Leamington, Warwickshire which is a property having 5 rooms, that is, excluding landings, sculleries, closets and bathrooms, but including living rooms, bedrooms, and kitchens. (These details were included in Census Returns so that the authorities could monitor overcrowding in industrial areas particularly etc.) We are not here overcrowded with just the parents and Hannah aged 20 and a lodger called Herbert Jauncey aged 24 and who is a clerk with the Infantry Record Office in Warwick. Hannah is employed with E Francis & Sons Ltd., drapers & house furnishers in Leamington Spa. In a very short time, this year, Hannah is to marry the family lodger. Is he living there because he is Hannah's intended, or did she fall in love with him because of familiarity?
In 1921 Matthew Charles is aged 51 and employed as a furnishing workrooms foreman, with Elizabeth aged 61 running the home. All seems safe with the anticipated marriage of Hannah leaving Charles William unmarried. .
At present we have no more information about Charles and his family except that Charles' wife, Elizabeth, dies in 1929 aged 69.
None of the life of Charles appears to have been published previously before the above record was created.
None of the Margrett Magazines from 1986 to 2012 included any of his experiences and therefore those experiences were not previously recorded in the public domain through the magazines deposited at the British Library under the I.S.S.N. 0269-0284 in those years.