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Record #2900
Name :
: Charles BETTS (1868 - 1904)


Father
:
Mother
:
BMD and other details
Date of Birth
: 7 Mar 1868

Marriage (1)
:
Marriage (2)
:

Date of Death
: 18 Jul 1904   Notes : Typhoid fever
Abode (1) : Place of BirthEngland, Middlesex, Islington

137 Downham Road
Abode (2) : Place of Death / BurialCanada, Ontario, Frontenac, Kingston
Sailing Information
Date of Arrival
: 25 Jun 1883
Country
: Canada

Ship
: Parisian

Placement Family
:
Homes / Agencys
Institution (GB)
:

Agency
: Barnardos
NotesCharles George Alfred Betts was born in Islington, first son and second child of Charles Betts of Finchingfield, Essex and Hester (Nash) Betts of Trottiscliffe, Kent. The elder Charles, a potman at the "Lord Raglan", died of apoplexy in January 1879 and within a few months Hester turned her boy over for admission to Barnardos. He apparently had taken up with friends of low character and Barnardo's accepted him to help the mother prevent the child from finding "a felon's doom". The Barnardo's records talk of his repeated escapes and returns to the institution on Stepney Road where he can be found in the 1881 census. His records state he was placed "to situation, 5/4/1881 (April 5, 1881). From that time I had, until very recently, no record of him until his marriage to his first cousin, Sarah Ellen Nash in January 1896 in Seaforth, Huron County, Canada. He had four children the last of which was born after his move to Kingston, Ontario in 1901 (after the census). He was employed as a cook there. He is found in the city directories of the time as Charles A. Betts. He and his wife both died within a few weeks of each other in 1904 of typhoid fever in the Hotel Dieux Hospital leaving four orphaned children. No grave sites were recorded though there was an entry about the death at St. George's Church. The oldest child was taken in by a family in Seaforth (where their mother's father and some siblings lived), but the rest were sent out to various families near Kingston.

I since found a record of Charles, of Seaforth visiting Menai Bridge twice in 1895. Further inquiries revealed that his mother Hester had remarried William Knight, the Menai suspension bridge superintendent. It seems likely that he got to visit his mother after his departure to Canada which somehow gives me some comfort.

His mother, Hester, died tragically, committing suicide by casting herself into the Menai Strait nearly three months after her third husband died on the eve of what would have been their 13th wedding anniversary. 
ContributorsCreated : 2008-01-22 19:58:38 / From original database

Last Updated : 2009-03-02 12:35:48 /

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Surnames starting with:   A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z  13 Entries        
IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
5653 BETTS, Alexander1903ENG,     Jun 1911 : Carthaginian CAN Middlemore  
7447 BETTS, Alfred1892ENG, WAR, Birmingham Jul 1901 : Numidian CAN Barnardos  
13719 BETTS, Arthur1881ENG, STS, Stoke on Trent Sep 1887 : Circassian CAN Liverpool Catholic Childrens Protective Society (now Nugent Care)  
2900 BETTS, Charles1868ENG, MDX, Islington Jun 1883 : Parisian CAN Barnardos  
2901 BETTS, Charles1873ENG, WAR, Birmingham 1883 : - Unknown - CAN Middlemore  
9665 BETTS, Edward James1898ENG,     Jun 1911 : Carthaginian CAN Middlemore  
23314 BETTS, Elsie May1897ENG, LIN, Stamford Aug 1908 : Dominion CAN Barnardos  
23313 BETTS, Ernest Frederick1900ENG, LIN, Stamford Oct 1908 : Dominion CAN Barnardos  
13718 BETTS, George1876ENG,     Sep 1887 : Circassian CAN Liverpool Catholic Childrens Protective Society (now Nugent Care)  
22751 BETTS, Harold1907ENG,     Sep 1922 : Minnedosa CAN Barnardos  
4897 BETTS, Joseph D1914ENG,    , Hastings Mar 1925 : Aurania CAN Liverpool Sheltering Home  
19528 BETTS, Rhona1902ENG,     Apr 1913 : Teutonic CAN Hurst House Training Home  
6935 BETTS, Thomas1871ENG,     Jun 1878 : Sarmatian CAN Middlemore