2.1.1 Charles Gittins (1863-1926) Youth (-1897)
Blanche’s father, Charles
Gittins40 , emigrated to Western Australia from England in
1886, when he was 24. Charles was born and brought up in the north of England. He rarely
spoke of his early life, recalling only that he was once chased by an angry bull and
escaped by jumping up onto a thorny hedgerow. He never mentioned his family. He may have
been an orphan or an unwanted child sent to live in an institution.
By 1888 Charles had joined the gold rush in the arid interior of Western Australia. He
soon found, as so many others had before him, that the gold rush was "mainly rush and
very little gold." The young Englishman endured the dust and heat of Coolgardie (near
Kalgoorlie) for only a short time before a quest for a climate nearer to that of his
birthplace led him to Albany. There, Charles took a job in a brick-yard41 near what is
now the Albany Circle, a mile or two from the center of the town. He had been working
there for a few years when he met his future bride, Mabel Murray.
Continue reading: 2.1.2 Mabel Murray (1875-1950) Background and Youth (-1897)
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Footnotes:
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40. The portrait of Charles was provided by Geoff Gittins, 14 Bondi St., Milpara WA 6330, Australia.
41. Stokes Brick Works, still operating as the Albany Brick Company.