Today is the conclusion of the Charles Richards family. Charles and Elizabeth's youngest son Alfred seems to have lived a very quiet life. He moved to Burnaby with his mother after the death of Charles, marrying Dora Dixie in 1935. Alfred and Dora moved out to White Rock, living near the western end of Marine Drive. Dora passed away in 1978 and Alfred moved to an apartment on Martin Street. He passed away in 1983.
Charles’ eldest son Charles Vernon did not come with the family to Canada, opting to remain in England. Through various documents – census returns, passenger lists, voter lists & news items, I was able to learn a fair bit about him. He and Frederick lived for a time in Melbourne, Missouri, New Jersey, Jamaica, Bermuda & Menorca and held various jobs including commercial photographer, merchandise shipper & secretary. Charles never visited his family in Canada until after his father died, travelling from Australia to Vancouver on the SS SS Aorangi.
In a perhaps ironic twist considering his father’s history, it appears that Charles had a lifelong partner named Frederick Giles. From the 1920s until their respective deaths between 1972 & 1980, they travelled, worked & lived together. In the 1950 US census they were living in New Jersey, and Charles stated that his relationship to Frederick as “Partner”. It's not clear if he meant relationship partner or business partner.
Included in today's post are two feature articles that were written about Charles and Frederick, although the focus is a bit more on Frederick, readers can get a very good look into Charles' travels and professional life. It is worth noting, in another bit irony, the 1951 hurricane that hit Jamaica and forced Charles and Frederick's move to Bermuda, was named Charlie.
I hope that you've enjoyed this short series about the Richards family of North Jackman; it's always interesting to look into the back stories of immigrant families to understand who they were and what 'marks' they left behind.
#storiesmatter #ourcommunity #localhistory
