Charles Dewen was born in St. Georges, Kennington, London, on 25th January 1837 to Honey and Mary Millett. He was Christened at St Mary’s Newington on 19th February 1837.
At the age of 4, Charles was still living at 2 St Georges Place, St Georges Rd, Lambeth. This is an area he knew well and to where he would later return, but at the age of 6 years, he and his family moved to Liverpool where his father had taken up work.
In 1847, aged just 10, Charles tragically lost his father due to typhus. His widowed mother remarried 3 years later on the 30th of May 1850 and the family moved to Conchan on the Isle of Man.
Charles was listed as a student at King Williams College, Isle of Man (illustrated above). He was registered as an entrant in September 1848 but left the following year mid-summer 1849.
In the 1851 census, Charle’s siblings, Ellen, Walter H., Henry M and Honey Millett Jr. were all residing in the Isle of Man at 18 Derby Square, Douglas. However, now 14 years of age, the census shows that Charles was residing with his grandfather, Richard Oke Millett, at the family home of Penpol, in Hayle, Cornwall. We are unsure what he did for the next 8 years until his marriage on 28th May 1859, to Frances Edith Turner at the parish church in St Paul, Covent Garden, London. Frances was born in London.
After his education, Charles had found work in London. He was employed by London and Westminster Bank at their Lambeth Branch at 91 Westminster Bridge Road as a bank clerk, close to where he had lived as a young boy. By 1881 Charles had been promoted to branch bank manager, a position he retained until his retirement. The branch is no longer there.
Children:
- Charlotte Caroline, 1860 – 1944
- Lucy Constance Marian, 1862 – 1950
Lucy Constance Marion Millett was a local artist and socialite, in the Hampton Wick area of London South-West. Her family lived at “Abbotsford” on Seymour Road. She was an instructor at the Lambeth School of Art. Someone who knew her when he was a boy, told me that her entire artwork was destroyed by fire. I did not ask whether the fire was intentional. Her prints still turn up occasionally. Lucy Millett founded the Thames Valley Art Club in 1906, and this is still going strong in the Kingston-Upon-Thames area. Her studio was at Imperial House, in Lower Teddington Road and she was an associate of other Hampton Wick artists – Enoch Ward, Katie Blackmore and William Spencer Bagdatopoulos.
- Alice Millett M.B.E., 1863 – 1941 [1]
- George Curnow 1865 – 1944
- Herbert Huxham, 1877-1962
- Charles Walter, 1879 – 1942
Charles owned a yacht, May Queen, a 28-foot cutter built in 1876, whilst he was resident at The Poplars.
He was treasurer of the Lambeth Pension Society.
Residences:
- 1841 (Age 4) 2 St Georges Place, St Georges Rd, Lambeth.
- 1851 (Age 14) Penpol, Phillack
- 1861 (Age 24) 13 Ampton Place, Grays Inn Road, King’s Cross. (Bank Clerk)
- 1871 (Age 34) 5 Princes Villas, Twickenham
- 1874 Mallow Villa, Isleworth Road. Occupier.
- 1875 Amyand Park Road, Twickenham, Occupier
- 1878 1 Buckingham Villas, Amyand Park Road, Twickenham
- 1880 (Age 43) 1 Poplar’s, Hampton Road, Twickenham.
- 1881 (Age 44) 2 Brompton Square, Kensington. Age 44. (Bank Manager)
- 1891 (Age 54) 89 to 91 Westminster Bridge Road, Lambeth (Bank Manager)
- 1901 (Age 64) 1 Stratford Place, Marylebone, London
- 1911 (Age 74) Abbotsford, Hampton Wick. (Pensioned Bank Manager)
Charles died on 2nd August 1911 at Hampton Wick and is buried in Teddington Cemetery.
Probate London 23 August to Frances Edith Millett (widow).
Effects £3,793 16s 6d
Note: I have just started to research the name “Dewen” as it is such an unusual one. Interestingly, the name crops up a few times in and around Marazion. At present I can only assume Charles’ parents had heard or knew the name back in Cornwall.
[1] https://www.thepeerage.com/p8577.htm#i85770