Charles Grande

Charles was the fourth son of John Grande (formerly Johannis Casagrande/Casagranda) and his wife Lois (also Louis or Elias) née Minkley. John (Casagrande) was born in Sheffield in about 1853 and Elias in Southwell in 1864 (reg. Louis), the daughter of Joseph and Sarah Minkley. John and Elias were married in 1884 (reg. Doncaster) and had eleven children, three of whom died in infancy or childhood. Their eldest child, Sarah, was born in Doncaster and her birth registered as 'Casagrande', but her siblings were born in Retford and registered as 'Grande' or 'Grand': Sarah b. 1885, Elois (Lois) b. 1886, Henry b. 1888 d. 1889, Matilda b. 1888, John b. 1889 (reg. 1890), Joseph b. 1892, Charles b. 1894, Mary b. 1896 d. 1897, Thomas b. 1898, William b. 1900 d. 1905 and Albert b. 1904. John, an ice cream vendor, Lois and their four surviving children, Sarah, Lois, Matilda and John, were living on St John Street, Retford, in 1891. By 1901 the family had moved to Brammers Yard, 8 Woolpack Street, Retford: John, a navvy, his wife Lois, and seven of their eight children, Sarah a general domestic servant, Matilda, John, Joseph, Charles, Thomas and William. The other child, Lois, was living in Wandsworth, London, where she was a general domestic servant in the household of Andrew Hunter, his wife Lille and their two children. Lille and the children had been born in Retford. John and Lois's eleventh child, Albert, was born in 1904 and his older brother William died the following year aged four. William was the third child to die young, his brother Henry (b. 1888) and sister Mary (b. 1896) having died before their first birthdays. The family home was still at 8 Woolpack Street in 1911 but there are at least three census records for the family, each giving different information about the composition of the household. However, it is probable that the household comprised John snr., now a labourer at an iron foundry, his wife and their three sons, John, Joseph and Charles, who were all farm labourers. Sarah had married Thomas Brett in 1907 and they and their three children were living in Pickering Yard, Retford. Matilda and her husband Edwin Peatfield (m. 1907) were living in Elkesley, Retford, with their two children. Lois, who had been living in London in 1901, has not yet been traced on the census but was probably married. The two youngest boys, Thomas and Albert, were in care. Thomas (13) was at the St Vincent's Home for Boys, Harrow Road, Paddington. The home for 'destitute boys' was established in Hammersmith in 1859 by some members of the St Vincent de Paul Society working as an independent committee. The Home occupied various premises in London until it was established on Harrow Road in about 1876; it closed in 1912. Albert (7) was an inmate at the St Anthony's Home for Boys, Hatton, Middlesex. The Home, opened in 1899 by the Crusade of Rescue, accommodated up to 200 boys between the ages of 2 and 12. A newspaper report of Joseph's death in 1915 recorded that he and his two brothers, John and Charles, had lived with 'Mr and Mrs F Guest of Wellington Street.' Frank and Alice Guest (née Wheatcroft m. 1889) were both from Sheffield, but had lived in Retford from about 1898. John snr. completed a form for the army in May 1919 listing his son Joseph's surviving relatives. The form is badly damaged but it appears that John was living at 10 Canal Street but 'late of 8 Woolpack Street' although his wife Lois may have been living with one of her daughters in Lincoln. The names of Joseph's three surviving brothers, John, Thomas and Albert, were obliterated but assuming they were listed in age order, John was living at 6 Common Road Retford and Thomas at 10 Canal Street while Albert may have been in Canada (m. 1930 May Wood, reg. Nottingham). Likewise the names of Joseph's three surviving sisters, Sarah Brett, Lois and Matilda Peatfield, were obliterated but again if the details were given in order of age, Sarah was living in Retford, Lois in Lincoln and Matilda in Retford. Joseph's CWGC record gives his parents' address as 10 Canal Street, Retford, but Charles's record has 18 Canal Street. John snr. probably died in 1930. In 1939 when the England & Wales Register was compiled, his widow Lois was living with her married daughter Sarah Brett (d. 1944) and her husband at 4 Canal Street, Retford. Lois probably died in 1946.