Charles William Whiting 1882-1912

Parents: Frederick Whiting and Sarah Backler (1)
Born: 3rd September 1882 (1)
Baptised: ?
Married: Florence Ethel Fitzsimon, 20, Spinster, of 9 Barandon(?) Street, daughter of John Fitzsimon, Carpenter, on 4th September 1905 at St Clements Church, Kensington. Witnessed by George James Whiting and Louisa Sarah Fitzsimon. (2,3)
Children: Charles James Whiting b.1906, William A Whiting b.1913 (4)
Died: 21st December 1912 of spasmodic asthma bronchitis in Ashford, Middlesex.(5)

Bio: Charles Whiting's birth date is taken from a Family Tree on Ancestry, which i've since discovered to be a reliable source.

On the 1891 census he is a scholar living with his parents and siblings, this time at 9 Duddery Road.

Charles William must have left Haverhill at some point over the next decade as he is no longer living with his parents, or in Haverhill on the 1901 census. Several of his Uncles and Aunts lived down in London, and it looks as if he moved near to where they lived around Tobin Street, in Kensington.

Seemingly absent from the 1901 census, he turns up next at his marriage to Florence Fitzsimon on 4th September 1905. He is living at 34 Tobin Street at the time, and is working as a carter.

On the 1911 census, we see Charles and Florrie (as she's known here) living at 24 Silchester Road, North Kensington. They have a 4 year old son, Charles, who was born in Notting Hill. Charles is Foreman at a Fat Contractor, and this ties in with the idea that he came to London to hook up with relatives. His Aunt Esther was married to Frederick Squire, a successful entrepeneur and Fat Contractor. This is most likely who Charles was working for.

It seems Charles and Florence had one more child. There is the birth in the first quarter of 1913 of William A Whiting in the Staines district of Middlesex.(4)What makes this extremely likely to be Charles' son is the fact that the mother's maiden name is given as Fitzsimon.

Charles William died on 21st December 1912 in Ashford, Middlesex, at the young age of 30 of Spasmodic Asthma Bronchitis.(5)

Like his brother George James, he was involved in the Salvation Army and was a keen band-member. This Obituary notice kindly transcribed by his great grand-daughter Jacqui Ramsden describes some of the circumstances of his life and death:

'When the week-end before last, the Norland Castle Bandsmen past and present held a joyous reunion one notable absentee was Bandsman Charles Whiting, a capable trombone player had gone to swell the ranks of the Blood-washed in Glory.

The Home-call of our comrade came as a stunning surprise to his fellow-Bandsmen, who did not even know that he was unwell. Circumstances had necessitated his living at Ashford, in Middlesex and he was only able to pay occasional visits to his Corps. He appears to have been in indifferent health for these weeks, but had kept about not wishing to ‘give in’ and probably not realising how really ill he was.

On the Friday before his death he sang ‘Lead Kindly Light’ and exhorted those present to seek God, adding that if he were spared he himself would do more for God, and would see that, so far as his efforts might avail, his boy should be brought up in The Army and made into a Bandsman. A very pathetic circumstance’s in connexion with our comrade’s death is that his wife was ill in bed at the time. Captain Whiting, of Belfast, is a brother of our promoted Bandsman.'(6)

Sources:

(1) Birth Register. 4th Quarter 1882, Risbridge District, Volume 4a Page 545
(2) London Metropolitan Archives, Saint Clement, Notting Hill, Register of marriages, P84/CLE, Item 018
(3) Marriage Register. 3rd Quarter 1905, Kensington District, Volume 1a Page 374
(4) Birth Register. 1st Quarter 1913, Staines District, Volume 3a Page 5
(5) Death Register. 4th Quarter 1912, Staines District, Volume 3a Page 7
(6) Obituary Notice for Charles Whiting, 'Assurance' Magazine, 1912, Issue ?