3/6th (Reserve) Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment
Charles Hawkins was born in Bulley, Gloucestershire in 1883, and baptised on 20 January 1884 in Churcham, Gloucestershire. His parents were Joseph Hawkins and Elizabeth Saunders, and his full siblings were William Henry (1872), Alice (1888) and Florence Mary (1890).
Following his father’s death in 1895, his mother remarried in 1899. As a result of this marriage,
Charles also had 10 half siblings. On 5 April 1891, Charles was living with his family at 2 Bulley Farm Cottages, Bulley.
On 31 March 1901, he was resident with the sub-Postmistress at the Churcham Post Office and
listed as a rural postman.
On 2 April 1911 he was living with his mother and stepfather at Ivy Cottage, Bulley. Charles married Victoria Maud Farmer on 28 October 1913 at the Parish Church, Upton St Leonards.
Charles enlisted in Bristol and joined the 3/6th (Reserve) Battalion Gloucester Regiment. His
Theatre of War was given as home, and he served in the Depot, Gloucestershire Regiment. As a result, he was not entitled to any war medals.
Charles died on 6 December 1916, aged 32 years, at the (2nd) Southern General Hospital, a Territorial Force General Hospital in Bristol. Charles was buried on 12 December in the extreme south-west corner of St Michael and All Angels Churchyard, Bulley, Gloucestershire, and a CWGC headstone marks his grave.
Soldiers from Churcham and Bulley, who served in WW1/WW2, are commemorated on a Roll of
Honour in the Chapelry of St Michael and All Angels Church, Bulley.
Research by Baden Russell April 2021