Charles first appeared on a census in 1881. He was living at Dee Cottage, Hawarden, Flintshire with his family. Henry Hurlbutt, Charles’s father, was 48, a Timber Merchant who had been born in Liverpool, Lancashire. His wife Mary J 42 had been born in Hawarden. Their listed children were Mary 12, Lilian 11, Charles 9, Frances 8, Ethel 6, Percival 3 and Hilda was 1. All had been born in Hawarden. There were a number of servants. Annie Lewis was Cook, Sarah Davison and Alice Jones were servants and Jennet Jones was a Nurse.
There had been 2 children born to the couple, another Charles, died after he had been christened in a Private Baptism. the day he was born, 16th May 1864 Mabel, a twin to Ethel, born 29th August 1874 who died age 2 years in 1876.
The 1891 census sees the family still at Dee Cottage, Hawarden. Head of the household, Henry Hurlbutt was 58 and a ‘Brick & Tile Manufacturer’. His wife Mary was 52. The children were recorded as Henry 25, Frank 24 and Charles 19 all Managers at the Brickworks. Mary was 22, Lilian 21, Frances 18, Percy 13 and Hilda was 11.
On the 1901 census the family is still at Dee Cottage. Henry 68 was still a Brick & Tile Manufactor. His wife Mary J was 62. The ‘children’ still at home were Frank 34, a Clerk at the Brickworks, Mary 32 Lilian 31, Charles 29 was still Brick Works Manager, Frances 27 and Hilda was 21. There were four servants.
Charles was not in the family home at Queensferry Hall, Hurlbutt Drive, Queensferry on the 1911 census. He was in the Army by then.
Taken from the “History of Connah’s Quay”, by Vic Williams, Charles Hurlbutt became Colonel Hurlbutt of the 5th Battalion R.W.F. in 1908 at the age of age 36. This was the year he moved out of Queensferry Hall where he was living with his parents and settled in as the new owner and occupier of Farfield Hall. His health deteriorated and as Vic Williams tells, Hurlbutt’s war was clearly over – no foreign fields of battle and no recruiting role, he was a very sick man. On medical advice he travelled to Egypt – “hoping the dry air would aid his recuperation”. Upon coming home he spent long periods at the fashionable health spas of Buxton & Harrogate. But all in vain and he died, aged 45, at Farfield on March 15th 1917″.
Charles was the Recruiter for the Royal Welsh Fusiliers in Flintshire.
Thanks to Vic WILLIAMS, the mystery of Charles Hurlbutt’s inclusion to the list of Connah’s Quay men is solved. He didn’t fight in the War but was instrumental in getting lots of Flintshire men to enlist, and as such added to the War effort.
Death Certificate of Charles Hurlbutt, Holywell Registration District. 1917 (Jan-March Qtr.) – Age 45 – Volume 118 Page No 326.
Charles Hurlbutt is buried in Connah’s Quay Cemetery. – (JR6 17 – 18 Double Plot – Sandstone slab base with Sandstone coffin, the top of which is in the shape of a cross.)
Charles Hurlbutt born 30th September 1871 Died 15th March 1917
“The Lord is my shepherd, yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil for thou art with me.”.
Charles Hurlbutt left a will which is recorded in the National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administration) 1858 – 1966 (accessible on www.ancestry.co.uk) Hurlbutt, Charles of Farfield, Connah’s Quay, Flintshire, Esquire, died 15th Match 1917. Probate St. Asaph 21st July to Henry Hurlbutt a lieutenant-colonel and Frank Hurlbutt esquire. Effects £12716 11s 3d.
Percival was Charles’s brother. He lived in Leighton in Montgomeryshire and he fought in the war and died due to the effects of Fever he contracted whilst on Active Serve in Palastine. He is not named on the Connah’s Quay cenotaph or the Hawarden one. He was, however, buried in Hawarden Churchyard whereas Charles was buried in Connah’s Quay Cemetery. Percival no longer lived in Flintshire and is not named on the memorial in Leighton.
