CHARLES HENRY BAYLISS Part 2

After the death of Marjorie, Charlie did not stay long at 42 Pemberton Gardens and within a year he was renting rooms nearby at 53 Hargrave Park. As a widower with a young son of pre-school age things were obviously not easy for Charlie who had to work.  Exactly what arrangement were made for young Derek I am not sure. What is certain is that the boy spent a lot of time with his grandmother Esther who was at that time living on Canvey Island, Essex; there are several photos of Derek happily playing on the beach at Canvey.

Derek Bayliss plays happily on the beach at Canvey Island
with his cousin Iris Bayliss, daughter of his dad's brother Bert.

An important development of the move to Hargrave Park (where his sister Florence was living just across the road with her husband Fred) was that he made the acquaintance of the other tenants of the house - the Hyde family.  Ada Elizabeth Hyde was a widow (it is believed that her husband Alfred Henry Hyde, a former policeman had died in the trenches during the First World War although I have not been able to trace his death with any certainty) sharing the accommodation with her son, Harry George and, more importantly for this story, with her daughter Nellie Eva. As a child, after the death of her father, Nellie was placed in The Royal Soldier's Daughters Home at Primrose Hill by her mother who felt unable to look after her four children. Nellie stayed there until she left school but was desperately unhappy. Her mother rarely visited her  although her elder sister somewhat made up for it. On the one day a week when she was allowed to leave the home Nellie, who was always hungry at the home, was often visited by her elder sister who used to bring her food. The elder sister was probably Ada Caroline, born in West Ham in 1908 and who died young in 1932. Nellie's brother was Harry George. He married Irene Mabel Rayner in 1937 and they moved to 30 Tremlett Grove N.19. Sadly, Harry would die a year later. I've not been able to trace what happened to Irene.

Charlie and Nellie on holiday in Ramsgate 1938

Charlie did not rush into a second marriage but he and Nellie started dating and enjoyed evenings at the dog racing stadiums and trips to the seaside. By 1938 Charlie had moved a short distance away to 56 Chester Road, St. Pancras and the electoral roll shows him still there a year later with Ada Hyde and her daughter Nelly living at the same address. The following year the war with Germany broke out on 3 September.  One day before, on 2 September, the three Bayliss brothers, Bert, Charlie and Arthur volunteered for the Police Reserve in which Bert and Charlie would serve for the duration of hostilities - Arthur, as we shall see in a later post, resigned from the Police to join the Royal Navy.

Police Constable Charles Henry Bayliss

On 12 April 1941 Charles Henry Bayliss and Nellie Eva Hyde were married at St.Anne's Church, Highgate. The service was conducted by the Rev. Wallace Johnstone and the best man was Charlie's youngest brother, Stanley, looking resplendant in his Irish Guard's uniform. The witnesses were Stanley and Charlie's friend, Edward South.

Wedding Photo : Sons and daughters - Ada, Nellie, Charlie and Esther

Guests at the wedding :  Sadly, I am unfamiliar with more distant relatives of the Hyde family. The lady in the centre of the picture is Nellie's mother, Ada Hyde. Behind her (in uniform) is Best Man Stanley Bayliss, then Left to Right are :Charlie's mother Esther, his brother Arthur, his sister Esther, Arthur's wife Phyllis and Florence Bayliss (Abbott).

Nellie Eva Hyde had been born in West Ham on 16 April 1911 and at the time of her wedding she was living with her mother at 70 Raydon Street, St.Pancras.  On the wedding certificate Charlie's address is also shown at the same address.  Nellie was doing her part in the war effort as her occupation is listed as "Munitions Worker".  At sometime between the wedding and 1945 Charlie and Nellie moved into a flat at St.John's Park Mansions, Pemberton Gardens. These flats were, at the time, considered to be rather "up market". Charlie and Nellie would spend the rest of their lives there. Nellie's mother Ada eventually moved to 4 Bertram Street N19 where she lived until her death in 1952. She is buried in Highgate Cemetery.

At the beginning of the war, Charlie's son Derek, had been evacuated to Somerset and knew nothing of his father's remarriage. For whatever reason the relationship between Derek and his father and step mother deteriorated and eventually Derek returned to Somerset where he lived for the rest of his life becoming a successful business man - there will be more about Derek in a future post.

Charlie and Nellie's son, Christened Peter Melvyn, was born at St.John's Park Mansion on 15 January 1942 and a daughter, Treena Diana, followed on 11 October 1943.

Peter and Treena Bayliss

(My thanks to Treena Bayliss for information included in this post.)

TO BE CONCLUDED SOON.