Charles Henry Pembleton
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Charles Henry Pembleton was born at Arnold in1893, the son of Charles and Ann nee Newton. There were at least seven children in the family including Charles and they were Hannah, Eleanor, Lizzie, Charlotte, Emma, Rebecca, and Archibald a boy whom Charles and Ann brought up. He was rumoured to have been a foundling from the circus. Charles Henry was named after a baby boy born in 1891 who died a few weeks later. In the 1911 census he is living at 27 Hall Street, Sherwood with his parents and his elder married sister Lizzie, he is 18 years of age and single and is an assistant hairdresser. Charles was a self employed barber although it is known that he worked from March to November of 1906 for the Carrington Timber Company. In 1912 at the age of 19 he married Annie May Corah (known as May) and their daughter Annie May (known as Annie) was born in 1914. Archibald emigrated to America and it was the intention of Charles and May to join him once their baby daughter was settled. However by a cruel twist of fate, the Great War of 1914-18 was to change all of their plans and Charles would have been conscripted into the army to swell out the number of fighting men needed.
He enlisted in the Sherwood Foresters during 1916 in Nottingham giving his residence as Basford, and was sent to Sunderland to do his training. It is obvious from his letters to his wife that he missed her and his daughter dreadfully. They regularly wrote to each other as did his sisters, and he had regular parcels from both his wife and family. Sadly, Charles died of wounds received accidentally on 17th June 1917 at the 17 Field Ambulance and he was buried in the Philosphe British Cemetery, Mazingarbe, Pas de Calais, France
May like thousands of other young widows was left alone to bring up her daughter. Surviving papers show that a separation allowance and allotment of pay would be paid for a period of 26 weeks from 29th June 1917 to 24th December 1917, £2.6s.4d was issued on 10th October 1917 being the amount due on the settlement of accounts of her husband. In June 1918 May received a letter from the Ministry of Pensions informing her that she was entitled to a pension of 20s.5d (13s. 9d for herself and 6s. 8d for her daughter). She was also paid arrears amounting to 13s.6d. On 10th October 1919 she received the sum of £3 from the Command Paymaster, Eastern Command being the amount that was due to the estate of her late husband Charles. May had to work to support herself and daughter and found employment at the Daybrook Laundry. To make ends meet she also took in washing for friends and neighbours. One particular neighbour was William Henry Boulton who had been in the Navy and was now living with his parents. After his parents died, May also cleaned for him and had meals ready for him when he returned from work. By all accounts May was a very independent and caring lady. She was not afraid of hard work. Coming from a family of ten she would have done her fair share of household chores. When her sister Florence became ill, May brought up her three daughters Yvonne, Audrey and Doreen to save them being taken into the care system. Her sister’s elder daughter Dorothy was already working and living with Grandmother Corah. The only son Colin was in a children’s home but later went into private lodgings where he was treated like one of the family. His entire life was spent working for Notts County Council on refuse collection. At a later stage May also took in her late husband’s father. The rest of the family had turned their back on him after he had squandered an inheritance. May was one of life’s survivors. She not only thought of herself but of others too. She was adept at laying bodies out and would have made an excellent nurse in different circumstances. She had 1d policies for everybody and remained fiercely independent. Perhaps her one fault was that she kept her little Annie free from domestic work. It was Annie’s husband Joseph Smith who did all the cooking despites her own mother’s culinary abilities. Whenever she visited her married daughter May always brought with her a tin full of homemade cake. May and William Henry Boulton eventually married in 1951 and spent twelve years together as man and wife until his death in 1963 at the age of 74. May outlived him by twenty six years, and died in 1989 at the age of 98 years. May’s daughter little Annie May married Joseph Smith in 1936 and came to live in Huthwaite and Sutton-in-Ashfield. She had two daughters Alma and Valerie who still live in the town today. Information provided by his granddaughter Valerie Caunt and research by Lynne Weston Death notice published 2nd July 1917 in the Nottingham Evening Post :- “PEMBLETON. – Died of wounds, June 17th, 1917, Pte. Charles Henry Pembleton (Wag), Sherwood Foresters, of Wallis-street, Old Basford. We never knew what pain he had, we never saw him died, I only wish that I was there, to hear his last good-bye. Still death divides, but memory clings. – From his heart-broken wife and child and dad.” In memoriam published 17th June 1918 in the Nottingham Evening Post :- “PEMBLETON. – In ever-loving memory of Pte. Charles Henry Pembleton, Wallis-street, Old Basford, died of wounds June 17th, 1917. Sleep on, dear husband, and take thy rest, you did your best while life did last; a devoted husband, kind, and loving father, he was to us both in heart and mind, he always tried to do his best. O Lord grant him eternal rest. Unknown to the world he stands by my side, and whispers dear wife death cannot divide. – Deeply mourned and sadly missed by his sorrowing wife, child, dad, and sister Hannah.” Above are courtesy of Jim Grundy and his facebook pages Small Town Great War Hucknall 1914-1918
