Grace’s great-great-great-grandfather, Joseph Charlish, was born in 1758 in Norfolk County, England. The 1841 England census shows that he was living in the parish of Earsham at that time.

Charles Frederick Oxborough

Born: 28 AUG 1901 in Beccles, Suffolk County, England

Father: Charles Alfred Oxborough (1872 to 1948)
Mother: Martha Minna Soanes (1878 to 1977)

Spouse: Grace Ethel Charlish (1908 to 1994)

Married: 1931 in Beccles, Suffolk County, England

Children:

Neville C Oxborough (1932 to 2020)
Graham P Oxborough (1935 to Unknown/Still Living)

Died: 12 JUN 1961 in Norwich, Norfolk County, England

Probate:

Timeline:

1911 Beccles, Suffolk County, England
1931 Marriage to Grace
1932 Birth of son, Neville
1935 Birth of son, Graham
1939 Beccles, Suffolk County, England
1948 Death of father, Charles
1961 Death and Burial

Occupation: printers’ machine mender (1939)

Records:

1911 England Census Record
1939 England and Wales Register
England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915
England & Wales, Marriage Index: 1916-2005
England & Wales, Death Index: 1916-2005
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations),1861-1941

Variations of Surname: none

Spouse:

Grace Ethel Charlish:

Grace was born on 30 AUG 1908 in Beccles, Suffolk County, England. She died on 29 AUG 1994 in Worlingham, Suffolk County, England.

Probate:

Grace’s father was Edgar William Charlish. He was born on 19 DEC 1874 in Beccles, Suffolk County, England. He died on 18 JUN 1962 in Beccles, Suffolk County, England.

Probate:

Grace’s mother was Edith Helen Borrett. She was born in 1877 in Bramfield, Suffolk County, England. She died on 21 JAN 1933 in Beccles, Suffolk County, England.

Probate:

Grace had three known sisters. All the children were born in Beccles.

Edith Mary Charlish (1903)
Muriel Kathleen Charlish (1905)
Violet Emma Charlish (1907)

After Edith died, Edgar married Ethel Harriett Tilmouth in 1940 in Beccles, Suffolk County, England. Edgar was 66 years old. Ethel was a 60-year-old spinster.

Ethel Harriett Tilmouth was born on 13 NOV 1879 in Beccles, Suffolk County, England. She died on 6 OCT 1965 in Beccles, Suffolk County, England.

Probate:

Charlish Origins:

The surname of Charlish is quite rare and unique. The website, Forebears, states that in 1881 this surname appeared only 150 times. They got this number from the 1881 England census.

As I worked on Grace’s family tree, I was able to go back as far as her great-great-great-grandfather. Here is the trail:

Grace Ethel Charlish (1908 Beccles, Suffolk)
Edgar William Charlish (1874 Beccles, Suffolk)
Robert Edmund Charlish (1839 Beccles, Suffolk)
William Charlish (1812 Hedenham, Norfolk)
Joseph Charlish (1786 Earsham, Norfolk)
Joseph Charlish (1758 Norfolk County)

The 1841 England census shows that Grace’s great-great-great-grandfather was living in Earsham. The far-right column on the census asked if the person was born in the same county. In this case, the “y” meant that Joseph Charlish was born in Norfolk County, England.

In my searches, this surname appeared in variations such as Churlish and Sharlish. These misspellings were due to the transcriptionist not being able to decipher the writing of the clergy. Another roadblock was that many of the older documents were written in Latin. Some records were also destroyed by water damage or neglect.

The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland had this excerpt concerning the origins of the surname:

Under the section entitled Early Bearers, the author seems to tie the surname Charlis to Charlish:

Johannes Charlis, 1379 in Poll Tax, Sharrington, Norfolk County, England.

One other issue that I would like to mention about surname variations concerns the Norfolk dialect. The people who are native to Norfolk County, England speak what is called Broad Norfolk.

You can find more information about how Broad Norfolk was spoken on the FOND and Wikipedia websites.

Mind how you go! (good-bye)!

Notes:

The surname, Oxborough, originated in Norfolk County, England. It appears in church registers as early as the mid-16th century. As the world population grew, these Oxborough ancestors moved to other counties in England. By the late 19th century, some had immigrated to Canada and Australia.

Creating Your Family Tree:

Interested in building a great family tree? Remember these important steps:

Look in your photo albums. You may have old pictures that your parents or grandparents gave you. Or, ask them for copies of photos that they have in their possession. Many people will write names and dates on the backs of photographs. Letters, diaries, and family bibles are also excellent sources for vital records.

Talk to your older relatives to find out about your ancestry. They may relate stories about an ancestor that you can add to your family tree. Family history is usually not found in newspapers. It is more of a verbal memory passed down from generation to generation.

Find the right family tree builder that suits your needs. You can choose one that has a paid subscription like Ancestry.com. There are also free sites like FamilySearch.org.

When you start building your family tree, add documentation to your ancestor’s profile. Records should include birth, marriage, death, census, military, city, and county directory listings. Any information that you can find will help create a life story about your ancestors.

If you have a unique surname, you may find databases on the internet that are useful in your search. I use SurnameDB.com for my English surnames. There are other websites on the internet for countries like Italy and Germany.

Genealogy is the study of a person’s “line of descent.” As you create your family tree, you would start with one individual and go “back into time.” You would add their parents, grandparents, and so on. There are also family trees that go “forward into time.” Many of these family trees start with a famous person, such as a president or royalty. They would then move forward into the present time. The purpose of this type of pedigree is to establish a person’s bloodline with that famous person.

There is no limit on how big your family tree can grow. The blank canvas is there for you to use. Cherish your family history, and it will be there for generations to come!