Nat Gould

Charles Edward Briggs 1873-1949

Charles Edward Briggs was born on 17 September 1873 at Ludwell (1) in Hartington parish in Derbyshire, the son of George Briggs 1802-1880 and his wife nee Frances Gould 1809-1887. He was educated at Winchester School (2).

In 1901 Charles Edward Briggs was living at Ashville House, Victoria Road in Portsmouth, Hampshire. He had become a clergyman in the Church of England.

On 9 June 1903 the Reverend Charles Edward Briggs married Edith Grace Glyn at St Andrew's church, Well Street, Marylebone in London. She was the daughter of Richard Henry Glyn 1842-1913 (born in Quebec, Canada) and his wife Mary.

They had two sons and a daughter, Mary Kathleen Glyn Briggs, born in 1905 at Amersham in Buckinghamshire. She was married to Geoffrey O'Hanlon, and died in 1991.

Signature on 1911 Census Return

When the 1911 Census was taken, the Reverend Charles Edward Briggs was the Rector of Amersham, and the family were living at the Rectory. With them was a cousin Dorothy Glyn (born in London in 1881), together with a cook, parlourmaid and nurse.

He remained Rector of Amersham until his retirement in 1945, when he and his wife moved to Sherborne in Dorset.

Charles Edward Briggs was a cricketer. He made his first-class debut playing for Hampshire in the 1900 County Championship against Sussex, where he made his highest first-class score of 58.

He played six matches for Hampshire in 1900, his last game being against Kent. In 1907 he played for Buckinghamshire in a Minor Counties Championship match against Surrey Second XI.

The Reverend Charles Edward Briggs died on 16 December 1949 at Sherborne, greatly mourned. His widow died there in 1956 aged 79 years.

(1) The farm at Ludwell had been inherited from his grandmother Frances Briggs. After the death of the Reverend Charles Edward Briggs it was sold by his executors in 1949.

(2) His parents died young, and he was supported by the family. He was sent to school at Winchester because that was the only school he had heard about. He proposed to his wife in a canoe, and was a lovely man. (Information of his grandson Michael Hanson, who has kindly supplied most of the details of his ancestry.)