Charles Ernest Henwood 1897-1984

Charles was born on February 6, 1897 in Hartley Wintney, England and died September 10, 1984 in Seal Beach, California. Where he was born exactly is confusing. I have several places . His daughter had Basingstoke, Hampshire on one document and his son thought he was born in Winchfield. His birth certificate says Hartley-Wintney in the County of Southampton. I thought Hampshire was a county, but I see that Southampton is mentioned frequently.

His parents died when he was a young boy or man. This may have been around 1912-1913 since Charles was 16 years old and already in the British Army in 1913.

He had spent his early years touring in Australia where he worked and New Zealand. There is a story about him being the first person to ride the whole length of Australia on a motorcyle. He joined the British army when age 16 -20. He went to Australia and rode a motorcycle the length of the country and was the 5th man in their history to do so. He had followed the railroad tracks.

He rented rooms from some people in Auckland, New Zealand. It must have been a boarding house. There he met Dorothy, his future wife. Friends that they had there were Alice ? and her husband who were either other boarders or the owners of the home and they stayed friends for a long time. They had two boys about the same age as Charles and Dorothy's first daughter. Alice later visited them in Washington. The Henwoods went back to New Zealand for visits and saw them there. This is interesting in that there are many Henwoods living in both these places. Then he did some traveling around Europe and it is known that he was in France.

After marrying Dorothy, whose first name was really Queenie, they moved to Victoria, Canada.
She had been previously married to a William Trevissick so had a son, Dennis. They all moved to Sumner, Pierce County, Washington, USA . By 1930 they had a boy 10 years old and a girl 1 1/2 years old. Then their third child was born. Charles was a landscaper and worked in a nursery. Queenie Dorothy was only 30 years old.

He continued to work as a landscape architect, and worked on many estates. He knew his flowers and how to grow things. Also, he had built homes in Lakeview, Washington and sold them. When the children were grown up and he was retired, they would live in Vancouver, Canada or Victoria and then move to Santa Monica, California. They enjoyed going back and forth. When doing this they would manage apartment complexes. He could fix anything that needed fixing.

When he came to visit his grandchildren, he would immediately head outdoors and work on a much neglected yard. He enjoyed helping out where he could.
Charles died at age 87 years and 7 months.