0
0
b.1908-d.1942
The Friends of Horton Cemetery were approached by Charles McNab’s great granddaughter, who was working on her family tree. She said, “My family was always told that Charles McNab died in Dunkirk, however, it appears he died 2 years after the war stopped.” Our researcher was able to identify Charles in the archives and to piece together his life.
Born in Scotland
Charles John Macnab (more often spelled McNab in later life) was born on 10 January 1908 at New Rathay in Perthshire. He was the illegitimate son of Grace Macnab, a domestic servant.
The 1911 census reveals that Charles was lodged as a boarder with a Murdock McAskill and his wife in Harriett Row, Blairgowrie. His younger brother David (aged 7 months) was also boarding, but with a Milne family in the same street. Their mother Grace was resident at Craighall, the ancestral home of the Rattray family, where she was employed as a dairymaid.
In 1913 Grace (also known as Christina) married John McLaren Myles, a baker. Myles was a widower and the father of Grace’s son David. They had three more children after the marriage: John (1915), Gladys (1918) and Alexander (1920).
In 1915 John Myles signed up for the Army Service Corps with whom he served for the duration of the Great War.
The 1921 Census finds the family at Abbey Road, Scone, Scotland: John and Grace Myles with children Charles (Macnab), David, Gladys & Alexander as well as John’s son Peter from his first marriage. John’s occupation was warehouseman in a bonded warehouse.
Charles Joins the Royal Artillery
In 1925, Charles John Macnab joined the Royal Artillery as a Gunner (number 1063207). We have not as yet viewed his army records but we know that he lied about his age, claiming to have been born in 1907 rather than 1908. (We don’t know the precise date of his army attestation, but we can estimate that it was circa August 1925 from the records of other soldiers with numbers close to 1063207).
We next find Charles on an electoral roll in 1934, living at 235 Camberwell Road, Southwark, with his future wife Edna May Ellis. This address was the George & Dragon pub, so presumably they were renting rooms there.
At this time Charles and Edna were living as man and wife but they did not marry until October 1939. A son, Colin John McNab, was born to them in 1935.
The 1936 electoral roll lists them at 152 South Street in Camberwell. By 1939 they were living at 13 Cobourg Street: Charles is listed as an army reservist, and he is employed as an Examiner at the Royal Arsenal. Son Colin is not with them in the 1939 Register.
On 5 October 1939, Charles and Edna were married at Camberwell register office. Charles named his father as “Charles John McNab deceased” (possibly fictional) and gave the father’s occupation as warehouseman (whisky distillery).
Charles in Long Grove Asylum
There are no medical records available so we do not know when Charles was taken ill. All we know is that he died at The Grove (formerly Long Grove) mental hospital in Epsom on 2 November 1942. It is likely that he was committed to The Grove from Camberwell Infirmary.
Causes of death were General Paralysis of the Insane and Pulmonary Tuberculosis. His address was given as 35, Washington Grove, Doncaster, which was the address of Edna’s parents.
Charles was buried at Horton cemetery on 7 November 1942 in grave 2481b. He was just 34 years old.
The Memoir of Charles’s Son
Charles’s son, Colin, never knew the truth about his father’s death. He recorded in his memoir that,
“I was born in 1935 to a Scottish father and a Yorkshire mother. My earliest memory is of being in an iron lung due to infantile paralysis which is now known as polio. A German doctor was able to clear up this condition.
I never knew my father. As I understand it he was in the Horse Artillery and was killed at Dunkirk. In those days any questions usually went without any real answer so I can only assume that that was the case and although I have tried to find out more, I have been unable to discover any record of him. My only proof he existed is his name on my birth certificate.”
My thanks to Charles’ great-granddaughter, Sue, in Australia for her help in piecing this story together; also to Olwen for her help with the Scottish side of the family.
Copyright
If you use the published stories, partly or completely, written by volunteers of the Friends of Horton Cemetery charity (Reg. No. 1190518), please acknowledge the volunteer who wrote the story by name, acknowledge the Friends of Horton Cemetery expressly and its registration number, and include this link to the STORIES section of the website https://hortoncemetery.org/the…/horton-cemetery-stories/
Donate
Occasionally, people ask how they might financially contribute to our charity. There is a Donate link at the foot of each page of the website. All donations will be directed towards continuing efforts to restore and ultimately maintain Horton Cemetery. We thank you for your support.
