A young Charles John King date of photograph unknown, possibly around 1875. Taken in Plymouth, Devon.
Photograph taken sometime between 1884 and 1886 during the Nile Expedition to rescue General Gordon. Photograph taken in Cairo, Egypt. He was my great great grandfather.
By 1848 William King, living in Devonport, had begun to learn the trade of carpentry and married Catherine Levers Brown, who was born in Devonport. These were my great great great grandparents. In my last post I explored the King family's move from Chudleigh to Devonport, Devon in the 1820's and what their life was like in the busy and crowded port city at the beginning of the Victorian Age. Son William became a young man right at the beginning of Queen Victoria's reign (1837-1901) and was witness to great periods of economic and social change brought on by the Industrial Revolution. His children were also influenced by the changing world around them.
1851 England Census: Ancestry The Browns and the Kings lived at number 10 Charlotte Row.
William and Catherine were married in 1848. Before their marriage, Catherine was living with her parents Samuel and Elizabeth Brown at number 10 Charlotte Row in Devonport, and William was living with his mother and her family at number 7 Barrack Street. After their marriage William and Catherine moved into the Charlotte Row house with Catherine's parents.
Charlotte Row, Devonport, marked in yellow. Charlotte Street runs parallel on the left.
From The Western Morning News Plymouth, Devon 14 June, 1949. The newspaper article mentioned street amendments taking place in this neighborhood in 1949.
By the 1851 Census son William was two years old. William Sr. was working as a carpenter/joiner (he does not appear to be working for the Navy). His place of birth was listed as Exeter, but he was most likely born in Chudleigh which is a short distance from the larger town of Exeter. Catherine worked as a dressmaker. By 1851 Samuel Brown was a pensioner of the Royal Navy. Neighbors of the Browns and Kings also worked for the Royal Navy; several neighbors worked as ship builders. Samuel and Elizabeth Brown were originally from Lostwithiel, Cornwall, 30 or so miles from Devonport, across the Tamar River. The families of John Moore (stonemason) and John Copp (mason's labourer) also lived at number 10 Charlottes Row. There were a total of 12 people living at this address in 1851.
Google 2011 image of 17, 18, 19 Charlotte Street, Devonport (not Charlotte Row, but in the same neighborhood). These three remaining cottages in this terrace date from the early 1800's and are grade II listed by English Heritage. www.DevonportOnline.co.uk
The cottage that the Kings and Browns lived in might have looked a lot like these terrace homes on Charlotte Street, just right around the corner from Charlotte Row. These homes were built to house workers and were very plain and simple. A home usually had two rooms downstairs (parlor and kitchen) with two or three sleeping chambers upstairs. The scullery* and privy were found at the back of the home where drainage channels could carry away waste water. Water for drinking, cooking and washing usually came from a communal well in the neighborhood and had to be transported to the home. While the homes look quaint, I'm sure the day to day chores were anything but! It is also hard to imagine the living arrangements for four separate families living at this address.
This small section of three homes was not damaged during WWII and each home retains much of its original character including "party walls", slate roofs and original pilastered doorcases with moulded entablatures.
https://wwwdevonportonline.co.uk/historic_devonport/buildings_historic/charlotte-street/charlotte-street.aspx
*Scullery: A room in a house traditionally used for washing dishes or clothes. A room used to heat water to soak or wash clothes. A room for ironing. A room for vegetable preparation and dressing of poultry, game or fish. A place for storage of food or dishes. Wikipedia.
In 1854 construction began on what became known as the Royal Albert Bridge. The bridge spans the Tamar River between Plymouth, Devon and Saltash, Cornwall. It still carries the Great Western Railway and connects London to Penzance. The completed bridge was opened by Prince Albert in May of 1859.
The view from the Plymouth side looking towards Saltash.
Photochrom print showing the approach spans on one bank. Detroit, Michigan: Detroit Publishing Company, 1905 [Source; Library of Congress LC-DIG-ppmsc-08788.]. Victorian Web.
"The sight of the gigantic structure gliding so gracefully from its resting place on the waters of the Tamar by means apparently so simple but yet, on examination, so complicated was indeed one which will be long remembered by those who had the good fortune to witness it...The operation of floating the Tube into its position occupied little more than two hours and as the tide fell the pontoons sank from under their load...the immense mass of people assembled-estimated by some at about 50,000..."
Royal Cornwall Gazette, 4th September 1857
https://cornishbirdblog.com/building-the-royal-albert-bridge/
The bridge was officially opened May 2nd, 1859 by His Royal Highness, the Prince Consort (Albert, husband of Queen Victoria). He briefly addressed crowds on the Devon side before riding the train across the bridge to Saltash where he alighted from the train and walked back across the bridge "minutely examining the works". The bridge quickly became a tourist attraction and a site of engineering wonder. The Kings must have marveled that this amazing structure was in their own backyard. The bridge helped the little town of Saltash undergo a period of modernization and played a major role in the town's development, which in turn helped the King family grow and prosper on the other side of the Tamar by the 1871 census.
*During WWII the bridge became a prime target for German bombers. It was painted gray to try and camouflage it and despite both Plymouth and Saltash being heavily bombed, the bridge survived!
https://cornishbirdblog.com/building-the-royal-albert-bridge/
Sadly, William and Catherine lost a 10 month old child in January of 1860. His name was John Levers King.
The 1861 Census found the King family still living at number 10 Charlotte Row. William continued to work as a carpenter, and he listed his birthplace as Chudleigh on this census. Catherine did not have an occupation, but by 1861 she had William (12 yrs), Samuel (7 yrs), Susan (5 yrs) and Laura (3 yrs) to take care of. My great great grandfather Charles John was born in 1863, shortly after this census was taken. He was probably given the name John as a remembrance of his younger brother. Catherine's mother Elizabeth Brown (70 yrs) was also living with the family. Samuel Brown's date of death is unknown. The Kings lived with two other families for a total of 16 people at number 10. The addition of four more children probably made life a little more hectic for Catherine.
The 1871 Census found the King family on the other side of the Tamar living in Saltash, Cornwall at number 90 Fore Street ("The Alma Cottage Small Shop", several doors down from the Commercial Inn). Why would the family have moved from Devonport to Saltash?
1871 England Census: Ancestry
Since the completion of the bridge in 1859, Saltash began to grow from a small little Cornish fishing village into a town that became attractive to both serving and retired navy personnel and officers based at nearby Devonport and the dockyards. Saltash saw continued growth and expansion as a large number of detached villas and terraced homes were built and areas developed into beautiful residential neighborhoods above the commercial sections of town. The commercial area of Fore Street was "modernized" by the installation of concealed drainage in 1850's and by the time the Kings moved there the commercial core was lively and industrious. It became home to skilled tradesmen, suppliers and shopkeepers. plan4saltash.co.uk
In 1871..."Port View was laid out as a gated community of villas... and attracted wealthy merchants, business men and retired military officers. Similar villas were built overlooking the Hamoaze, on the slopes to the northwest of Sand Quay, on Longstone Road and elsewhere around the town." kernoweb.neocities.org
This fits perfectly with the information on the 1871 census. The Kings chose to live in an area of working class people which obviously provided more opportunities, as Catherine became a shopkeeper of a "small shop". Daughters Susan (15 yrs) and Laura (13 yrs) were working as domestic servants (perhaps for retired Naval officers living in nice homes overlooking the river?). Was William taking advantage of the building boom still going on? He may have been using his carpentry skills to build lovely homes in Saltash, which my great great grandfather Charles eventually ended up doing in St. Austell, and then in San Francisco and Grass Valley, California. Charles was only 7 years old at the time of this census, but he must have watched his father and older brother William, also a carpenter by now, hard at work as they perfected their craft. Having the engineering marvel of the bridge to view every day may have also played a part in Charles' future interest in joining the Royal Engineers. At least, that is what I think!
Sons William and Samuel were on their own by 1871; William became a carpenter over in Devonport and had two sons who eventually served in the Royal Navy. Son Samuel served in the Royal Navy as a carpenter, and remained in Saltash with his family.
Lower Fore Street with the Royal Albert Bridge in view. From a 1907 postcard. Pinterest
The 1881 Census found the King family living at number 16 Fore Street (Tinma Cottage). William Sr. was still working as a carpenter. Wife Catherine (56 yrs) died sometime later in 1881. Daughter Laura worked as a dressmaker, and son Charles John (recorded as John on the census) worked as a carpenter's apprentice, presumably with his father. Daughter Susan had married and was living in Saltash on Tamar Street with her three small children. Her husband Edward Gould was a fisherman.
Tamar Street dominated by the Royal Albert Bridge. It was home to fishermen and women as well as shops selling to passengers using the ferry service. These homes were demolished in the 1950's.
saltash.org/saltash-waterside/tamar-street
saltash.org/saltash-history/the-battery-public-house.html
1 September 1884 Newspapers.com
Charles King embarked on the Rewa from Gravesend, headed for Malta and on to Alexandria at the beginning of September 1884.
The progress of the Nile Expedition was closely followed by British citizens through the newspapers. The Kings most likely followed the story day by day through their local newspapers which received updates from larger newspapers such as the Illustrated London News.
The 1891 Census found William King living on Carvath Street in St. Austell, Cornwall with his daughter Laura. He was 66 years of age, and was still working as a carpenter. Laura was working as a domestic housekeeper. Living just down (or up?) Carvath street were Charles King, Anna King, and my great grandmother Emma King. They were living with Anna's mother Emma Hitchens Craze Levers who was a grocer, and Anna's sister Lavinia. Charles was working as a builder/contractor. William King passed away in September of 1900. Laura went on to marry Richard Cory and would continue to live in St. Austell. They moved to Eastbourne Road by 1900, and were neighbors with Lavinia King Trist, who owned a grocery store with her husband Harry Trist on Eastbourne Road.
Lets take a quick look at Charles' older siblings and their lives after 1900.
William James King worked as a carpenter/joiner in Devonport and had a total of 8 children with his wife Elizabeth. They lived on Monument Street, very near the Market, for many years.
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Ancestry.com UK, Royal Navy Registers of Seaman's Services, 1848-1939 Cornelius King
William and Elizabeth's son Cornelius King served in the Royal Navy from 1899 to 1911. He had tattoos on both forearms of snakes and lions......he lived in the Plymouth area and died in the Royal Naval Hospital in Stonehouse, Plymouth in 1941.
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Ancestry.com UK, Royal Navy Registers of Seaman's Services, 1848-1939 Albert Edward King
Son Albert King also served in the Royal Navy from 1904 to 1916. The 1911 census listed Albert as married and living in Devonport. He was working on an armourers crew with the Royal Navy at that time.
Brother Samuel Thomas King served in the Royal Navy as a carpenter from 1841-1881. His son Samuel Jr. served in the Royal Navy as a fitter from 1902-1914. In the 1911 census Samuel Sr. lived at Number 3 Belle Vue Terrace in Saltash (one of the newer terraced neighborhoods) with his wife as a naval pensioner, and his son Percy and daughters Elfreda and Lillian. Percy was a plumber and house decorator. During the war Percy served in the British Army as a plumber. Daughter Gertrude married Frederick Chubbs and lived at Glencoe Terrace in Saltash. I share DNA with a member of the Chubbs line and have been in contact with several family members through Ancestry and Facebook.
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Ancestry.com, Royal Navy Registers of Seaman's Services 1848-1939
Samuel Thomas King
Sister Susan Sophia King married Edward Gould, a fisherman, and by 1881 they lived on Tamar Street in Saltash until the 1911 census which found them at number 8 Park Terrace in Saltash. They had four of their unmarried adult children living with them, as well as a married daughter and her two children. Son Sidney served in WWI as a driver.
Sister Laura Elizabeth married Richard Corey after her father William King died in 1900. They lived at 127 Eastbourne Road in St. Austell. By 1911 the family was living on Albert Road working as farmers and doing dairy work. Laura passed away in 1933. Son Sidney served in WWI.
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The Royal Albert Bridge is in the foreground with the newer 1961 Tamar Bridge in the background. The Royal Albert Bridge carries trains across the Tamar from Devonport to Saltash (and visa versa) while the Tamar Bridge carries motorized vehicle traffic. plymouthhistoryfestival.com/2020
The Saltash Passage; Ferry and Bridge; from a 1918 postcard. plymouthhistoryfestival.com/2020
Before the Tamar Bridge was built for motorized vehicle traffic, a ferry system had been in place since 1270 to get horse and pedestrian traffic across the river. It eventually progressed, of course, to ferries carrying motorized vehicles. The last ferry crossing was on October 23, 1961. My parents Margaret and Dale took a trip with family members MaryLou and Jerry B. in the 90's to see the sights in England and Cornwall. They crossed the Tamar by car over the modern Tamar Bridge.
Relationship Reference:
Me---->Margaret Hansen Boothby---->Margaret Elizabeth Hayes Hansen---->Emma Lavinia King Hayes VanDuzer----->Charles John King---->William King and Catherine Levers Brown