Charles born 29 July 1891 (died 18 June 1979), the son of Alfred and Louisa Gubbins who lived in a cottage on the Green at Eydon.
On 13 April 1914 he married Eliza Ann Walker, a Londoner, born in Westminster 16 November 1887 (died 29 May 1975). He met her in Eydon where she was allowed one day off a month from her work at Eydon Hall in the service of Sir John and Lady Dashwood. In the 1911 census for the residents of the Hall, Eliza was shown as a domestic kitchen girl, but she worked her way up to be cook.
Charles was a platelayer working out of the Great Central yard at Woodford Halse, alongside his brother John Arthur. After Charles and Eliza’s marriage they moved to Calvert Cottages in Buckinghamshire, where this photograph was taken. Like his father, a cap was always worn, and they look so identical in their features.
With the growth of the railways Charles and Eliza, with their children Charles Alfred John and his older sister Elizabeth Frances Abbott moved to Nottinghamshire to the village of East Leake where he worked as a signal man in the box at Rushcliffe Halt. He died on the 18th June 1979 with his railway working life having spanned about 39 years for the Great Central Railway. See also KL286, KL286a & KL293
Photographer unknown.
Image lent by Marion Wheatley