M. 15 Jun 1842 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Wife: Maria Bevan
D: before 1864
For generations, the ancestors of Charles Hughes lived in the southwest of England, seeming to never climb out of their financial hole. But during the 1830s, Charles broke away by joining the military, and this took him to a place where he had a chance of bettering himself.
Charles was from a village northeast of Bristol, England called Almondsbury. He was born in about 1819 to Thomas Hughes and Hester Keen, their fourth child. Charles was baptized along with a younger brother and sister when he was 7-years-old. Another brother and sister came along later; three of Charles' five brothers died young.
Baptism of Charles and his siblings.
The Hughes family had lived in Almondsbury at least since the mid-18th century, and their names were often in the records of those receiving community charity. Charles’ father and grandfather were laborers who appeared to be hard-working, but in England during that time, if you were poor, you usually remained so throughout your life. Charles had the additional hardship of losing his father at the age of 16 when Thomas Hughes died in 1835. His mother remarried, but within a few years, was widowed again. During this time, Charles seems to have had a brush with the law, being charged with larceny, but he was found to be not guilty.
Then on February 8, 1837, Charles broke away from his family by joining the Royal Artillery. His enlistment record described him as being five feet seven inches tall with brown hair, fair complexion and hazel eyes. His future course was set when his regiment was sent to Canada, and on September 4, 1838, he arrived by ship in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He met a widow by the name of Maria Beard (née Bevan) and married her in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island on June 15, 1842. They settled in Fredericton, New Brunswick, where their oldest child Charles was born in 1845. The following year, Charles was discharged from the service for an "irregularity in his enlistment." He had served a total of nine years.
By May 1847, Charles and his family moved to Charlottetown, where four of their children were born. He seems to have had many types of jobs to support the family. In the 1848 census, he was listed with occupation of cordwainer (shoemaker). By 1853, he was working as a servant, and in 1857 he had become a seaman.
Charlottetown in the 19th century.
In May of 1857, Charles and his family sailed to the United States, arriving in Boston. Soon after, the Hughes family moved to Whitewater, Wisconsin, where the youngest child was born in 1858. Charles was listed on the 1860 census with the occupation of shoemaker. This was the last record of him, and by 1864, Maria was back in Charlottetown listed as a widow in the city directory. Extensive research has been done to try to find a death certificate or grave for Charles, but all efforts have been unsuccessful.
After a brief time back in Canada, Maria returned to the U.S. and remarried in 1868, but she sought a separation from her new husband a couple of years later. It’s interesting to note that she went back to using the name Hughes, and when she died in 1888, her gravestone says Maria Hughes. As for the Hughes cycle of poverty, all of Charles and Maria’s children went on to have successful lives, something that would never have happened if Charles had stayed in the village where he was born.
Children:
1. Charles William Hewes – B. 20 May 1845, Fredericton, New Brunswick; D. 24 Nov 1872, Boston, Massachusetts; M. Charlotte Elisa Pippy (1846-1923), 12 Aug 1867, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
2. Caroline Augusta Hughes – B. 22 May 1847, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; D. 26 Jan 1889, Boston, Massachusetts; M. Henry T. Matifes (1847-?), 21 Sep 1867, Boston, Massachusetts
3. Elizabeth Matilda Hughes – B. 25 Sep 1849, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; D. 16 Nov 1937, Los Angeles, California; M. Edwin G. Bentham (~1845-1928), 6 Jan 1868, Boston, Massachusetts
4. George Henry Hewes – B. 17 Oct 1853, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; D. 18 Sep 1923, Tujunga, California; M. Nancy Sophia French (1856-1916), 17 Jul 1879, Boston, Massachusetts
5. James Job Hewes – B. 27 Aug 1855, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; D. 19 Oct 1935, Winchester, Massachusetts; M. Emma R. Tirrel (~1857-?), 5 Jun 1883, Boston, Massachusetts
6. Gertrude E. Hewes – B. 6 Aug 1859, Whitewater, Wisconsin; D. 10 Oct 1916, Los Angeles, California; M. (1) Charles A. Fernald (~1853-1910), 25 Dec 1876, Boston, Massachusetts; (2) Alfred R. Phillips (~1866-?), 19 Sep 1895, Boston, Massachusetts
Sources:
Research of Ruth Jenkins in Almondsbury, England, 1997
Military records of Charles Hughes, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 5 Mar 1846
Baptismal record of Charles Hughes, Fredericton, New Brunswick, 8 Jun 1845
Records of St. Paul's Anglican Church, 1850-56, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Passenger list of ship Dr. Rogers, 30 May 1857, Boston, Massachusetts
Records of Prince Edward Island Heritage Foundation, 20 Nov 1981
1860 and 1880 U.S. Census, Wisconsin and Massachusetts
Letter from Charles Hall, 28 Mar 1982, Riverside, Rhode Island
Death certificate of Charlotte Hewes, 25 Aug 1923, Medford, Massachusetts
Massachusetts marriages, 1841-1915
California death index, 1905-1939
Death certificate of Elizabeth Bentham, 17 Nov 1937, Los Angeles, California
Family bible of George H. Hewes
Death certificate of George Hewes, 20 Sep 1923, Tujunga, California
Marriage certificate of George Hewes and Nancy French, 21 Jul 1879, Boston, Massachusetts
Death certificate of Nancy Hewes, July 1916, Berkeley, California
Massachusetts deaths, 1841-1915
Death record of Gertrude E. Phillips, 12 Oct 1916, Los Angeles, California
