C. H. Randell
Service no. 9114
Private, South Lancashire Regiment, 2nd Battalion (described as a “drummer” in the Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914-1919 database)
Born in Lambeth; enlisted in London; lived in Wandsworth
Killed in action on 25 September 1915, aged about 26
Remembered at Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Ypres, Belgium
Information from the censuses
Charles Henry Randall’s two sisters, a nephew and a boarder were living with his mother, Lilian Randell, in four rooms at 15 Sterndale Road, Battersea. Lilian had had 13 children of whom only five survived.
In 1901 the Randell family were living at 94 Crimsworth Road, Lambeth. William Henry Randell, 39, was a motorcycle maker born in Dalston; his wife Lilian Randell, also 39, was a “tailoress” born in Paddington. Their children were
William J. Randell, 15, a waiter born in Wandsworth
Lilian T. Randell, 14, born in Wandsworth
Charles H. Randell, 12, born in Wandsworth
Daisy E. Randell, 7, born in Wandsworth
May E. Randell, 1, born in Wandsworth
In 1891 the family were living at 34 Camelia Street, Lambeth, and William Randell was described as a “cab driver”. There were two older children, Ernest E. Randell, born in 1883 and then aged 8, and Florence E. Randell, born in 1885 and then aged 6.
Going back 10 years, in 1881, William Randell was a railway lampman, married to Lilian, who was described as a mantle maker, and living with his father, James Randell, 52, a cigar maker, at 68, Regent St, Lambeth.
There are some discrepancies in all the three censuses on place and dates of of birth but these may be transcription errors.
Charles Henry Randell, born on 9 August 1888, the son of William Henry Randell and Lillian Randell of 43 Thorne Street (now Thorne Road), was baptised on 20 September 1888 along with two older siblings at St Barnabas Church, South Lambeth. Aged 20, working as a labourer, he married Caroline Lillian Shepherd at the same church. In 1911 Caroline had returned to her parents at 22 Camellia Street, Stockwell and was working as a machinist. The whereabouts of Charles is unknown.