Charles Walters (I) b 1789
Charles Walters (II) b 1815
Charles (II) was my mother’s great
grandfather.
Charles (II), like his father, Charles (I)
was born in Peasemore in Berkshire. Born in 1815 he moved with his parents to
rural Surrey. (Now South Lambeth). It was here that he met his wife to be, Sarah
Baker. They married on the 18th May 1840
at St. Mary’s Lambeth. (Next to Lambeth Palace). Their daughter Mary was born
in December of that year.
Sarah had been born in 1820 in the idyllic “Battersea
Fields”, (now the site of Battersea Park), her father was Benjamin Baker, a
Labourer, (b 1797 in Lambeth) and her mother was the grandly named Emmilisent Gibson.
(Amelia for short). Amelia was born in
1801 in Battersea.
Battersea Fields
After his marriage, Charles (II) left the
parental home of the cottage on the Wasteland and set up home a short distance
away in Alfred Street. Alfred Street was part of the creeping urbanisation that
the “Persons from London who lived in genteel houses” tried so desperately
to stop. The Street was later renamed “Bolney Street”. The house were Charles
lived was, coincidentally, just a few hundred yards from the house where my
parents and I lived 110 years later (27 Dorset Road).
Life at 12 Alfred Street must have been cramped: As well Charles, Sarah
and baby Mary, a family of 7 and a family of 3 also lived in the house.
Charles (II) followed in his father’s
footsteps. I.e. he was a gardener.
Perhaps he continued to work at the Cottage on the Wasteland or maybe
The Vauxhall Nursery provided employment.
Their family continued to grow. Their son,
Charles (III) was born in 1843, daughter Amelia followed in 1844 and then came
three sons; Samuel Thomas in 1847, Martin in 1849, and George born in 1849.
Perhaps
their growing family demanded more space, or may they couldn't afford the rent,
but in 1851 they moved just round the corner to 1 Alfred Place and went to live
with Sarah’s parents, Benjamin and Emmilisent. This was a definite step up on the housing
ladder. It was a three-storey terrace house with a basement, the ground storey was
faced with rusticated stucco. It was set
forward slightly forward from the neighbours, it was flanked on the upper
storeys by pilasters with key ornaments; it also had a continuous cast-iron
balcony on the first floor.
It was here that daughters Elizabeth (1852)
and Emma Martha (1853) were born. Sometime after their dauaghters' birth, Charles and Sarah moved again.
Their son, James Benjamin was born in 1857 at 12 Russell Cottages, Brixton Road
(also known as the Washway). They didn’t last long here and by
14th December 1857 they were back at 1 Alfred Place.
By 8th April 1860 they had moved
again, from no. 1 to no. 33 Alfred Place, where their son, Henry William was
born. A year later and they had moved again, from no. 33 to no. 26 Alfred
Place. (A family trait is beginning to emerge here!). Their final child, Elizabeth
was born here in 1861. Sarah was 41 and had born 14 children.
Through all this time Charles (II)
continued his career as a gardener.
By 1871, Charles (II) had moved the
furthest distance yet – the 2 ½ miles to 38 Cornwall Street, Stockwell,
Brixton. (Now known as Blenheim Gardens), in full view of Brixton Prison (The Surrey
House of Correction), and the Brixton Windmill. The area still largely rural,
and was providing employment for a Charles (II) as gardener, but with enough urban
development for Charles to take on a side line of being a gasman!
Photo of Cornwall Street, 1910
(Building on the right is still there)
Photo of Brixton Windmill
By 1881 Charles (II) is on the move again,
and is living at 17 Vining Street, Brixton. Whether because of age or lack of
opportunities for gardening, Charles (II), at the age of 66, is working as a “Carman”.
i.e. he is a delivery man driving a horse and cart.
Charles died in July 1883.
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