Charles Frederick Watts * Eastwick, Hertfordshire, Engeland c. 1836 arrived in Cape Town on 23 Sep 1859 on board the Lord Raglan as part of the "Aided British Immigration" program, He was the son of a gardener James Watts (born ca 1808 in Roydon, Essex, England) and Mary Nash (born ca 1798 in Buckinghamshire) from Enfield, Middlesex, England. He grew up in Enfield, just North of London with his parents, a sister Martha (born ca 1838 and a brother James (born ca 1832). On 23 Feb 1857 he married Ann(e) Stanley (born ca 1835) in Colchester, Essex, England. On 8 May 1859, they had a baby boy, Charles Harvey (PROG) and weeks later they boarded the Lord Raglan for the arduous voyage from England to Cape Town to begin their new lives in the Cape Colony. The Lord Raglan was apparently not a steamer and the longer voyage must have been difficult with a very young baby. Charles was a gardener, like his father James, but in the Cape the new big thing was South Africa's first railway line that was being built. Was it a coincidence that he arrived in Cape Town within days from the arrival of South Africa's first steam locomotive? It has been told that he became a conductor on the first railway line between Cape Town and Wellington. Later, he was a guard on Wynberg Station and eventually became the station master of Mowbray Station in Cape Town.
The immigrant couple had three more children, all born in South Africa:
Mary Martha (1861 - 1926),
James William Stanley (1865 – 1927), who emigrated to South Australia where he passed away, and
John George Frederick Stanley (1866 – 1931).

Charles lost his wife Ann in March 1907 and Charles Frederick passed away as a railway pensioner and widower on 9 Nov 1910 in Rosebank, Cape Town.

Charles Harvey (PROG) married Bennetta Caroline SANSOM (b.31 Oct 1863 King Williams Town d. 29 Aug 1950 Trichardt, East Transvaal) in ca. 1880 in King Williams Town and followed in the footsteps of his father with a career on the railways. Near the end of his life, he was the station master of Lynedoch Station just South West of Stellenbosch; Charles Harvey Watts died on 1 Nov 1916 in King Williams Town.

Charles Harvey and Bennetta had nine children:

b1 Ernest William (9 Jan 1882 KWT – 4 Oct 1952 Paarl) married Johanna Maria Cecilia CARSTENS (b. 6 Jun 1885 d. 5 Jul 1974 Paarl) in 1913, the daughter of Alewyn Jacob Carstens (12 Sep 1848 Malmesbury d. 2 Aug 1933 Gouda) and Johanna Maria Cecilia Liebenberg (b. 1846 – d. 25 Apr 1926 Gouda). Ernest and Johanna had eight children, one of which died at age 11 as a result of meningitis

b2 Percival Arthur (3 Sep 1893 KWT – 29 Sep 1975 Klerksdorp)

b3 Lilian Mary (27 Oct 1887 Dohne, Eastern Cape – 5 Mar 1972 Boksburg)

b4 Vera Maud (16 Jun 1895 – 6 Oct 1976 Springs)

b5 Edward Charles Stanley

b6 Muriel Blanche

b7 Ethel Louisa Ann

b8 Myrtle Beatrice

b9 Evelyn Florence

Sources:

KAB MOOC VOLUME NO 6/9/655 REFERENCE 3102
DESCRIPTION WATTS, CHARLES FREDERICK. DEATH NOTICE
STARTING 1910 ENDING 1910

1841 British Census

NAAIRS (KAB, TAB)

Researched and compiled by:
Vivian Watts.