Charlotte Parchment 1869 - 1944

1869. Born 23/07/1869 at 5, Crossland Place, Bethnal Green. Parents William & Charlotte ,nee Bennett , Parchment, Father given as Silk weaver. Birth registered by the mark of her mother, 16/08/1869. .Youngest of 6 siblings that survived, but did have a younger sister Mary, who died in 1873. . Have b.c. BP1. Did not find a baptism in ~12 church records I searched - see note on William Parchment page. Could they have been Methodists?, as she baptised, in 1891 & 1894, 2 of her children in the Methodist faith. No Parchment Methodist baptisms on Ancestry.

Only a Crossland Square existed in 1881 - near Sale Street, south of Bethnal Green Road, north of Dunbridge Street, near St Matthew's Church..

1871 Census. Living at 7, East St., Bethnal Green.

1874. Her mother, Charlotte dies, 27/12/187’, of Phthsis Pulmonalio, aged 42, at 38 Moss Street. She is only 5. Have d.c. DP3

.1877. Sep : her father remarries 25 yr old Elizabeth Austen but she dies within 2-5 months, Dec 1877. So, 8 yr old Charlotte only had a 'new' mum for 2-5 mths at most!

1881 Census. Living at 38,Moss St., Bethnal Green. East Street was renamed Moss Street, but do not know whether 7 East Street became 38 Moss Street!. Anyway, in the same street as in 1871C. Census image on her farher's page .

Elder sisters: Elizabeth, 18, is working as a general servant in Hackney & Louisa, 20, is back in Braintree, as a visitor, in the Ellingford household, long term family friends.

Moss Street is described as light to dark blue by Charles Booth on his 1888 Poverty map: 'windows broken, wet ill kept street, litter of paper etc, untidy women'. Have not located it on his map & have yet to discover how to find all that exists in Booth. B349 217 is the location - but could not get any further!

1881. Father, William dies, of epilepsy, aged 50, 38 Moss Street , 8/8/1881 d.c.DP1. Charlotte , only 11, may have returned to Braintree, maybe living with her Bennett grandparents & attending school there after her father's death. Another possibility is that  her brother George with new 'wife' Louisa Gillard, also living in Moss Street, might well have given Charlotte a home in 1881 and then when he died in 1883 she would have been old enough to go into service round Braintree and get to know George Turner: Stebbing and Braintree being within 5 miles..

1888 Aged 19, marries George Turner ,23, in the Parish Church of Stebbing 24/12/1888. He is described as a labourer, as is his father, William. Her father, William Parchment,, is described as a weaver [& not given as deceased]. Residence at the time of marriage is Stebbing and witnesses are Albert Parchment (her brother) and Emma Thompson, future sister-in-law of her brother Albert. . MT3.

This Albert Parchment, 1866- 1932, was a weaver who worked for Warners for around 45 years (1887 to 1932) and wove the material for the Duchess of Teck's (Queen Mary) daughter (Princess May) for her wedding gown. The designer of the fabric was Arthur Silver. Unfortunately, her fiancee (Duke of Clarence) died and the fabric was never used. Albert Parchment was on The Weavers' Committee in 1895. He died 29 December 1932 only 3 or 4 weeks after finishing 36 yards of damask. There is a Braintree Warner Museum.

1889.   26/10/1889. William George Turner born in the Village, Lindsell. George given as farmer. Birth registered 28/11/1889 by father George. Have b.c. BT4

1890. 20/10/1890. Harold Turner born in Lindsell. Baptised a Methodist.

1891 Census. Living at Near the Mill, Lindsell, next to the Vicarage. Census Image on husband's page.

Her missing son, William George Turner, aged 1, is staying/living with his grandparents, William & Susan Turner on census day. They are at Carters Farm, Bardfield Road, Stebbing.

Both William George and Harold are listed in Lindsell School at the ages of 3. [See William George Turner page]

1894.  9 October 1894 Dorothy Lily Turner born at the Down, Stebbing. George given as farmer. Birth registered by Charlotte 16/11/1894. Have b.c. BT6. She is baptised as a Methodist.

1901 Census. Living at Duck End (Carters) Farm, Stebbing.

Just over a year after the death of her father in law, William Turner, in Mar 1910, she and her husband and daughter , Dorothy, emigrated to Victoria, Australia on 10 November 1911 aboard the SS Orama. Below is a copy of the ship's manifest. Son Harold also went out there, maybe slightly before them, as not listed on the same ship, nor does he seemingly appear in the 1911C in April, in England . Eldest son William George, already engaged to Edith Mead, decided to stay [ reportedly as she would not leave her mother]

They seem to have purchased land in Briar Hill, outside Melbourne, Victoria. They probably built their own cabin/house and farmed there for many years. This area would have been very rural in 1912; it is now built up with some streets seemingly named by the Turners and Laws when they moved from there in early 1950s? . Eltham is a mile east of Briar Hill and they seem to have lived Eltham Road from 1914, or earlier, to her 1944 death: there is still an Old Eltham Road about 2 miles south of Briar Hill , but I think Eltham Road Greensborough was renamed St. Helena Rd and would suspect that their land was the plot shown above with the highlighted streets. On her dc - see below- her usual place of residence was Leith/Leach Road: & the latter runs N/S to the east of Turner Street

Photos of her & her house on George Turner page.

Her daughter Dorothy Turner (1894-1989) married Harold Law on 24/02/1917 and had children, Dorothy Margaret Law, 1918 -1994, and Arthur Duerden Law ,1922-2008.. The former never married : Arthur married Marion Wright and they had Carol,1948, Yvonne, 1951 & Andrew,1954.

Her son Harold Turner 1890-1967 married "Gina" Smith in 1938; they ran the Greensborough Hotel from 1951.

From 1914 to her death, she lived at Eltham Road, Greensborough. Little is known of this period of her life.

1944. She died, aged 75, actually at the Community Hospital , Greensborough, of pneumonia, myocaditis & cardiac failure, on 25 August 1944. Her usual place of residence was Leith Road ? - it could possibly read Leach & there is a Leach Street in the Turner plot of land -Greensborough. The only Leith Road we can find is some way away in Macleod. She was buried on 26/8/1944 in Greensborough Cemetery. Her husband joined her in this grave in 1951 - see George Turner for photo, of both the original grave, and now of the restored grave 2015 .

William Parchment, her father.

George Turner, her husband.

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